KOCHI: Police have tightened the security of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) after senior officers there received emails threatening that a bomb was planted inside its compound last month.
The emails, which turned out to be a hoax, were received by five officers of CSL on August 24. The hoax emails were received by the officers of the shipyard, where India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is in the final testing stage of testing before handing over to the Indian Navy later this year.
According to police officials, a few more officials also received similar emails last week. Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Y Nizamudheen said even though the investigation has revealed that mails were a hoax, as precaution security has been beefed up in and around CSL for the past several 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 said.
Coastal Police and a boat were deployed at Vembanad lakeside of the shipyard for the past two days for night patrolling to detect any intrusion. More CISF persons have been deployed at the shipyard following the threat, officials said, adding that luggage, vehicle checking, and body frisking are carried out at the entry gates of the shipyard more rigorously.
Meanwhile, cyber experts 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 said.
Two months back, police had arrested an Afghanistan national who was working under a contractor at the CSL using fake documents. Similarly, in 2019 over 10 computer components of INS Vikrant were found stolen while undergoing construction work at the shipyard.