BHOPAL: The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) that makes ammunition for the military has ordered an investigation after 24 contract workers, all of them Bengali speaking, in one of the largest bomb-making facilities in the country were found to have the same date of birth in official documents.
The management of Ordnance Factory, Khamaria, in Jabalpur is acting on a potential security threat. An official spokesperson for OFK in Jabalpur said the report of an investigation that was ordered is expected on Monday.
B P Mishra, additional general manager of the factory, said the workers were engaged for civil construction inside the sprawling campus that has multiple bomb and ammunition making workshops. The OFB’s vigilance division ordered the investigation after a scrutiny of documents, including Aadhar cards, of 24 of 25 contractual workers at the Khamaria facility showed they were each born on January 1, albeit in different years.
All of them gave addresses in West Bengal. But investigators are suspecting that there could be a Bangladesh connection. The men have been working in the grounds of the factory for about a fortnight. They were engaged through listed contractors. This is the first time they are working in the facility. A senior official at the OFK said there are regular security checks of all contractual workers.