The shootout near the Isro campus at Byalalu, about 30 km from Bangalore, on Tuesday may be graver than the Karnataka government would have us believe.
The state home minister may have refused to attach much importance to the incident, but initial investigation by police has revealed that the two intruders fired gun shots at guards and one of the suspects was carrying a binocular and was trying to peep inside the campus when he was challenged by a security guard.
The Karnataka Police team probing the incident did not find any used cartridges at the site but found burnt pellets, which have been sent for ballistic examination.
“It doesn’t seem to be the handiwork of local criminals. The possibility of anti-nationals being involved is certainly not ruled out,” a senior police officer said.
Sources in Karnataka Police also said it was possible that the duo had come to survey the campus area and fired when challenged.
“The absence of empty cartridges could be because the guns were country-made or revolvers. In both cases, empty cartridges do not automatically eject,” a source said.
Senior police officers also said they suspected that the bullets fired at the security guard missed their target. “We haven’t found any bullet marks at the site of the incident. We suspect the bullets missed the target or were fired in the air to ascertain response time,” the officer said.
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