Chinar Corps, which is the Indian Army's 15 Corps, oversees counter-terrorism operations in the Kashmir Valley and at the Line of Control

New Delhi: Twitter has suspended the official account of the Indian Army’s 15 Corps, also known as the Chinar Corps, which oversees counter-terrorism operations in the Kashmir Valley and at the Line of Control (LoC).

The suspension came as a big surprise to the authorities in Kashmir as well as in Delhi.

A senior official in the Army said Twitter was immediately contacted, adding that the suspension would be “revoked” by Friday evening.

However, it was not clear why the account, which has 40,300 followers, was suspended. According to sources, when Twitter was contacted about the account, it said the Chinar Corps handle @ChinarcorpsIA was suspended by “mistake” amid an exercise targeting 1.8 million accounts.

ThePrint reached Twitter India through phone calls and messages but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.

Sources said there had been a well-planned and coordinated attack against handles run by Indian security forces with thousands of users, usually owing allegiance to Pakistan military’s propaganda wing ISPR and terror sympathisers, at times reporting the accounts to social media companies.

A Weapon Against Fake News

The Chinar Corps of the Indian Army is at the frontline of fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Its area of operation includes Kashmir and the LoC.

The handle is a source of official information about various operations undertaken in Kashmir.

A few years ago, the Indian Army had asked all important corps to have their own social media handles to facilitate easier communication of information to the public.

Each of these handles focuses only on their respective area of operations, and often helps dispel rumours and counter propaganda.