If you come across a conversation between people who are discussing tickets, reservations and deposits, what you have overheard may pertain to life and death as these are actually coded words, wherein 'reservation' stands for the dreaded AK47 assault rifle, 'ticket' means a pistol and a 'deposit' refers to a fidayeen.

Indian security agencies have come across a series of code words reportedly used by Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists to communicate with each other. "It is a gold mine of information which will help security agencies understand how terror operatives communicate with each other," said a senior intelligence officer.

According to sources, Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) is referred to as 'Voda', while ISI agents are called 'Taagut'. Terror outfit al Qaeda is encoded as 'Micro' and the Waziristan-based al Qaeda is referred to as 'Waagu'. Al Qaeda operatives and members are called 'uperwalen' (people on the top), said a source.

IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal and his elder brother Iqbal are called 'chta' (small) and 'bada' (big) respectively. Top IM operative Yasin Bhatkal, who was arrested by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) in August last year, is referred to as 'Prnc' (prince) and TB. Assadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, who was arrested along with Yasin, is called Champ2.

Another top IM operative Amir Reza Khan alias Rizwan, who is believed to have joined hands with al Qaeda is simply referred as 'Rzz'. Bada Sajid, an IM operative now believed to be hiding in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area and linked to the al Qaida, is called 'Chikn'.

Investigative agencies have found out that even important places have been given code names. Dubai is called Dub and India is called Innd, while Delhi is called Cappt and Mumbai is Gaww. Gujarat is called Jejuu and Bhatkal is called Dehat by IM members, informed a source. A passport is termed 'Khaldy'. The NIA is referred to as 'N eye' and Jews or Yehudis are called Yao. "EN@ means Inshallah," the source added.

Terror outfits have also come up with imaginative code words for arms and explosives. A pistol is called 'ticket', an AK47 assault rifle is termed 'reservation'. Fidayeens are called deposits, while a submarine is referred to as a 'mmrruine'. 'Kalungi' stands for explosives and detonators are called 'elaichi' (cardamom).

Social networking sites Paltalk and Nimbuzz are referred to as 'pt' and 'n', informed the source.

In the past few months, all the major IM operatives in India, including Yasin, Assadullah, Waqas and others have been arrested. "During their interrogations they revealed the code words which they used to communicate with each other," a senior central intelligence officer said. The majority of their communication happened over online chats and social networking websites," he added.

Riyaz Bhatkal used to operate his chat accounts with bogus IDs like 'Samlove' and 'Patara Singh'. Yasin had created fake IDs in the name of 'halwa wala', hbahaddur and diwanapyarka114, the source said.