[WIham] Wis. State Journal 11/14/03: Broadcast of porn tipped police in emergency channels case

[Harv Nelson]

I had hoped that they were using the term "ham radio" in a generic 
sence.  Unfortunately, that is NOT the case.

 From the WM7D data base:

*KB9DJE*     *Tech Plus*
*MITRA, RAJIB K
3225 OLD LANTERN DR
BROOKFIELD, WI 53005*

Harv/AI9NL

 Rick Kiss�ll wrote:

> Broadcast of porn tipped police in emergency channels case
> 11:14 PM 11/14/03
> Barry Adams Police reporter
>
> The man accused of interfering with emergency radio channels in 
> Madison over the past nine months may have broadcast audio from 
> pornographic movies over police airwaves, officials and the man's 
> roommate said Friday.
> Police say the porn, which aired Tuesday night, let them know the 
> interference was intentional.
> Rajib K. Mitra, 25, a UW-Madison student, has a criminal past 
> involving computer hacking.
> Mitra is a "ham" radio operator with a degree in computer science. He 
> was arrested Thursday after police searched his near West Side apartment.
> According to a search warrant, police were looking for radio and 
> computer equipment and pornographic audio and video.
> Mitra was in the Dane County Jail Friday. He has been tentatively 
> charged with 16 felony counts of computer crimes and could also face 
> federal charges, according to police.
>
> Police hope that Mitra's arrest ends months of sporadic, frustrating 
> interference with their radios.
> The problems first surfaced in the State Street area and later arose 
> in a one-mile radius of the intersection of North Orchard and Regent 
> streets. Mitra lived in an apartment on North Orchard.
> A motive has not been determined, said Detective Cynthia Murphy. The 
> interference usually left radios dead for stretches from a few seconds 
> to about 20 minutes but never on a regular schedule, adding to the 
> difficulty of tracking the source, said Al Schwoegler, the city's 
> communication operations supervisor.
> The interference came at times when police were dispatched on calls, 
> meaning the person jamming may have monitored police radio traffic.
> "He had to be knowledgeable about the system," said Schwoegler. "When 
> we changed frequencies the jammer changed frequencies."
> Police worked with the radio manufacturer Motorola, area cellular 
> phone companies, UW-Madison officials and amateur radio operators.
> Ralph Pellegrini, 45, of Sun Prairie, is a ham operator and technician 
> for Sprint PCS who assisted police. He said a cellular site near State 
> Street was among the things first considered as a source of the 
> interference.
> Officials probably found the source of the signal by using a device 
> that can detect signals from one direction, Pellegrini said. The 
> signal gets stronger the closer you get to the source. Buildings and 
> the geography likely complicated the search. "The city radio guys have 
> to get really a lot of credit because they were working in an 
> environment that's pretty bad," he said.
> In most of the incidents, radios appeared to malfunction. But on 
> Halloween night, a steady tone was broadcast at various times until 
> about 4 a.m. Nov. 1.
> Police near State Street patrolling the massive celebrations worked on 
> a different frequency, but other officers, paramedics and firefighters 
> in a one-mile radius of Mitra's apartment experienced problems. It 
> forced officials to keep switching channels.
> "It was a cat and mouse game. We moved and he moved," Schwoegler said. 
> "Of all of the nights to do this."
> On Tuesday night, pornographic audio was broadcast 13 times in two- to 
> three-second bursts for about 20 minutes, Schwoegler said.
> In August, Mitra moved from North Lake Street to an apartment at 10 N. 
> Orchard St., Schwoegler said.
> His roommate, Lisa Albright, 21, a UW-Madison senior from Monroe, said 
> she met Mitra in 2001 through her sister, who had met him on the 
> Internet.
> Albright said Mitra rarely spoke to her, stayed in his room, which was 
> filled with computer equipment, and seemed to have few friends. 
> Albright said Mitra met his girlfriend from Stevens Point on the 
> Internet.
> On Thursday, Albright was doing an experiment in a bacteriology class 
> when she was pulled from class by two plainclothes investigators. She 
> was questioned by police and the FBI for four hours.
> "I had no idea what was going on. They just said something serious had 
> happened," Albright said. "By the end of it I was bawling."
> Besides tearing apart Mitra's small bedroom, they also searched 
> Albright's bedroom and car, took her computer and videotapes.
> "They just couldn't believe I lived with him and didn't know 
> anything," said Albright. "It's just unreal."
> Rebecca Truszynski, 21, lives next door. On Thursday police were in 
> the ceiling looking for wires that may have led to a transmitter on 
> the roof.
> "It's kind of creepy. The whole time the police were here it was a 
> weird, eerie feeling," she said.
>
>
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