The Western coast, which has already been declared a hotspot for militant activities, now faces the threat of containers being used as instruments of terror. As a result, all major container ports in the Western seaboard have been placed under the security scanner.
Mangalore figures among the 11 major ports in the country. The state also has one inland container depot (ICD) at Hassan, and another minor container storage facility at Whitefield in Bangalore.
According to sources in the home ministry, militants were looking at the container traffic as a new way of unleashing terror in the country. Vital installations in coastal areas wereparticularly vulnerable to this new strategy, they said, adding that the railway container service might be used to target inland regions. Despite central intelligence agencies blowing the terror whistle at regular intervals, the container traffic emerged as a potential terror threat for the first time.
“In the past, Mangalore used to get only feeder vessels that would pick up and drop trans-shipment container consignments from Colombo. However, we have recently started getting mainline container vessels, which are huge in size,” said Gopalakrishnan, traffic manager of the New Mangalore Port (NMP).
Though Gopalakrishnan conceded that it was “impossible to check each and every container that arrives at the Mangalore port for explosives,” he said that random inspections could be done with the help of the police and CISF.
Grave security concerns were raised after Mangalore became the top mainline container traffic point among the 11 major ports in India. “The Western Range has always faced security threats from the sea. However, the container issue has given our fears a whole new dimension. Though we are yet to receive any confirmation on the arrest of a terrorist belonging to the Indian Mujahideen by security forces, we have tightened security at NMP, including the container terminal,” said Gopal B Hosur, inspector general of police (western range) and the commissioner of police, Mangalore.
Officials at the Railway Safety Commissionerate said on condition of anonymity that though the threat of explosives being transported through rail was a cause of concern, they were equipped to minimise or completely ward off the threat.
NMP officials, on the other hand, contended that containing the new threat would require a wide-ranging variety of equipment and processes. “Besides taking every precaution while stuffing the container and employing powerful scanning machines at loading ports, the integrity of the maritime crew should be tested through HR practices,” an officer said.
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