Kochi: The Southern Naval Command in Kochi on Saturday constituted a team to assess the theft of computer hard disks from the aircraft carrier under construction for the Indian Navy at Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The team was constituted on a direction from the defence ministry, according to sources.
The Central intelligence agencies may also probe the incident involving theft of computer hard disks from the first indigenously-built aircraft carrier in view of the security lapses involved in the incident, the sources said.
The preliminary probe report submitted by Ernakulam city police commissioner Vijay Sakhare to state police chief Loknath Behera is understood to have pointed towards security breach in the incident. The report mentioned theft of hard disks, RAMs and processors of five computers. Although the contents in the stolen hard disks, which included layout of equipment and machinery, were encrypted, the potential damage could be assessed only after nabbing the culprits.
A CSL spokesperson insisted that the missing hard disks did not have any strategic or sensitive information. The matter was under investigation, he said.
The theft surfaced with the Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL) filing a complaint in Ernakulam South police station on September 13. It happened in a 15-day period from August 29 to September 13. The probe will focus on the 52 persons having security clearance to enter the area, including workers from other states.
A source told this newspaper that in normal circumstance the design and other details of the project will not be stored aboard the ship under construction. The information in the discs would be about the day-to-day work linked to the project, he added.
