Why Capt Bhoopendra Singh became Maj Bashir Khan: J&K court martial spotlights practice of personnel in militancy-hit areas often using aliases

“It may not be routine practice among troops to adopt aliases, but it is also not entirely unusual,” an Army source said. The intention is to conceal their real identity while on the job, so as to be able to operate more safely and with greater freedom in hostile environments and combat zones.

Another source said keeping an alias has been a fairly common practice among soldiers operating in J&K since the early years of militancy in the 1990s.

This alias or code name helps in covert ops by allowing the soldier to mix more easily with the local people and to gain their confidence. The code name may also be used for open channel radio communication, and by troops among themselves while in public places.

A soldier operating undercover or on a counter-insurgency mission may also try to resemble local people — and he may, for example, grow a beard or dress in civvies in a particular way as part of that effort.

“In Kashmir, a sizable number of troops grow a beard,” a source said. “While in Rome, it is operationally useful to do as the Romans do,” the source added.

The alias, although unofficial, is generally known to the soldier’s unit. Often, an alias is chosen that begins with the same letter of the alphabet as the soldier’s actual name — thus, Capt Bhoopendra Singh was also known as Maj Bashir Khan, sources said.