Security tightened at Cochin Shipyard following bomb scare mails, seems to be a hoax

By Express News Service

KOCHI: Police have tightened the safety of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) after senior officers there obtained emails threatening {that a} bomb was planted inside its compound final month.

The emails, which turned out to be a hoax, had been obtained by 5 officers of CSL on August 24. The hoax emails had been obtained by the officers of the shipyard, the place India’s first indigenous plane service INS Vikrant is within the closing testing stage of testing earlier than handing over to the Indian Navy later this 12 months.

According to police officers, a couple of extra officers additionally obtained comparable emails final week. Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Y Nizamudheen stated despite the fact that the investigation has revealed that mails had been a hoax, as precaution safety has been beefed up in and round CSL for the previous a number of days. “Following a complaint from CSL authorities, a case was registered at Ernakulam South Police station. We have conducted a search of the CSL premises with the assistance of Bomb Squad and Dog Squad on Sunday. No explosives as claimed in the emails could be traced. So, it is clear that bomb threat was a hoax,” he stated.

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Coastal Police and a ship had been deployed at Vembanad lakeside of the shipyard for the previous two days for evening patrolling to detect any intrusion. More CISF individuals have been deployed on the shipyard following the risk, officers stated, including that baggage, automobile checking, and physique frisking are carried out on the entry gates of the shipyard extra rigorously.

Meanwhile, cyber consultants from Kerala’s Police’s Cyberdome and officers of Cyber Cell are investigating the origin of the emails. “It was sent from a bogus email id. We are tracing the IP address of the person who sent the email. Apart from it, we were also checking whether the threat email is any ploy for a cyber attack by hackers. From the content of the email, we also suspect the involvement of an insider. A detailed probe is on,” an officer stated.

Two months again, police had arrested an Afghanistan nationwide who was working underneath a contractor on the CSL utilizing faux paperwork. Similarly, in 2019 over 10 laptop parts of INS Vikrant had been discovered stolen whereas present process development work on the shipyard.