A few computer hardware components have been stolen from the machine room of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
The CSL authorities informed the police as soon as the theft was detected on Monday, following which the Inspector General of Police, Kochi range, and District Police Chief (Kochi City) Vijay Sakhare constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Assistant Commissioner of Police, District Crime Branch, Biji George.
The SIT has discovered some fingerprints from the crime spot. “The detection of finger prints from the crime scene is a good start and we are now looking for potential matches...,” said Mr. Sakhare.
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The SIT, which now comprises six officers and numerous police personnel, will be strengthened further if need be. The probe is being directly supervised by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) under the monitoring of Mr. Sakhare. Asked whether the police suspected the theft to be part of an espionage plan, Mr. Sakhare said the police had not ruled out anything. “Prima facie it appears to be a case of petty theft and there is no reason to panic,” he said.
A spokesperson of the shipyard said there was no data of strategic value at the moment on board the under-construction vessel and that the yard had constituted an internal inquiry team to probe the incident.
The police are learnt to have prepared a check list to figure out the sequence of incidents leading to the theft.
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