Question mark over security at Tarapur

The attempt last month by two men to steal discarded computer parts from the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) has raised serious questions about the quality of security provided by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Luckily, the hard disk that was among the parts which Prashant More and Amit Shelke were caught trying to steal did not have any data relating to TAPS operations.

But the fact that the workers used a CISF vehicle to try to spirit out the parts in a quest for easy money and made it to the main gate without being stopped en route has put a question on the alertness of the CISF.

A former official at the plant said security personnel often get acquainted with the contract labourers as the latter work at the plant for several months. For instance, More, a maintenance labourer, had been at the plant for 30 months. Hence, strict frisking is not carried out, leaving a loophole for unscrupulous workers to exploit.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, which runs the plant, however, said there was no security breach. Station director U Ramamurthy said More had undergone police verification at the time of appointment, as is mandatory for all workers.

The computer parts had been discarded and were kept in a plastic bag, along with a mouse, keyboard, and power supply unit, for disposal at the office of Gajanan Enterprises, a private firm that maintains computers in units 3 and 4 of TAPS. More stole
the bag and hid it in some bushes near the plant. On November 1, he persuaded Shelke, a friend and CISF driver, to drop him outside the complex with his booty. But the vehicle was stopped at the main gate by the CISF.

More and Shelke were later granted bail of Rs2,500 each.