NIA may probe shipyard theft Talks held with state police offcials

Kochi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to investigate the case on the missing of the computer hard drives from the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) at the Cochin Shipyard.

The NIA team reportedly held discussions with the top officials of the state police for further investigations.

"It is a case involving a major security breach in the shipyard and also in the IAC. The probe will be widened and a decision to hand over the case to the national agency will be taken soon. However, an investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is already underway," sources said.

The Intelligence Bureau is learnt to have submitted a report citing serious security lapse by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as the stolen devices were kept inside the highly secure area guarded by the CISF.

It was on September 16 a case was registered at the Ernakulam south police station that a hardware device was stolen from the high security zone of the shipyard.

The state police chief also intervened in the issue considering its gravity following which a special investigation team was formed. The probe team quizzed the staff and other employees of the shipyard, including those who handle the work inside the ship. A preliminary probe revealed the device was present in the ship till August 28.

The construction of IAC was started in 2009 and it is scheduled to be inducted into the Indian Navy in 2021.