A recent probe by sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case of theft onboard the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)— a warship under construction by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL)—has emerged as a case study for counter terror agencies across the country. The case is being documented as one of the most fast paced yet painstaking investigations conducted by the NIA so far.
The tedious investigation began after the NIA was given a blind case and the agency sleuths found one piece of evidence-a single chance finger/ palm print at the crime scene to begin with.
The agency decided to conduct a scientific investigation which began by collecting fingerprints of around 6,500 persons who had entered CSL or worked on board the IAC during the period of theft from August 20 to September 13, 2019.
This meant that labourers, contractors, supervising staff, technical staff and security personnel from across the country who had worked at any point on the under-construction warship had to be identified and their finger prints collected.
The NIA sleuths fanned across 14 states—Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand for collecting fingerprints and conducting background verifications of such persons since most of them had left the jobs subsequently.
''It was a totally blind case when the NIA took over the investigation from the Kerala police. The fact that critical electronic components including processors, random access memory and solid-state drives, installed aboard the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) had gone missing was a national security matter. These components were part of critical functions like the Battle Damage Control system of the warship,'' said a senior government official.
The second stage of investigation included preparing profiles of these 6,500 persons, their antecedents and verifying them with the CSL records followed by field inquiries. The third stage of probe meant that all the staff of the company that had supplied the stolen hardware besides staff of the company that had installed the systems on board the IAC were examined in a similar manner.
This had to be done to rule out any insider hand. The fourth stage came when the sleuths interviewed persons with doubtful profiles or antecedents. Not only were they interviewed in detail, but they were subjected to a layered Voice Analysis. Forensic scientists and sleuths had been keen to procure the LVA for quite some time. The technique is available to the NIA and acts as a very useful tool since it relies on voice frequency. It can detect if a person is lying, assess his emotional state and help investigators in questioning as well.
On one hand, the LVA was giving results and on the other hand the Single Digit Fingerprint Bureau in Kochi had started comparing the one chance finger/ palm print that had been lifted from the scene of crime with the 6,500 fingerprints. The bureau specialises in identification of culprits through chance print comparison and gives expert opinion in cases including those handled by central agencies.
On June 5, 2020, the bureau found that the palm print matched with one of the many thousands. It was the palm print of a contract employee Sumit Kumar Singh, a native of Munger in Bihar. Further examination revealed that Singh had worked and lived with another contract employee Daya Ram, who was a native of Rajasthan. After obtaining warrants from the court, the NIA sleuths once again travelled to Bihar and Rajasthan to conduct searches at their residences. Their confessions finally helped the sleuths recover the stolen parts.
The NIA filed a charge-sheet against the twin accused in September 2020, under various sections of Indian Penal code and the Information Technology Act. “While working aboard the IAC, the accused had observed the computer systems functioning on the warship under construction and conspired, since May 2019, to commit theft of computer hardware components for monetary gain,” said the NIA officials.
“The case has put focus on how scientific investigations are the way forward and anti-terror police forces across states can take benefit from the experience of the investigators,” said a senior security official.
The new forensic science technologies and capabilities being acquired by NIA are becoming the key for fast-paced counter terror investigations in the country that have for long in the past suffered due to lack of scientific tools to join missing pieces of investigations.
Based on the security lapses identified at CSL, the NIA has made recommendations to the Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Defence for improving access control into and within CSL besides ensuring proper antecedents verification of all contract staff. Sources said after the NIA's list of recommendations, the CSL has implemented additional measures for improving access control and has now resorted to enhanced use of technological interventions. It has also augmented CCTV coverage besides using improved security equipment.
Meanwhile, the government has handed over the security of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a central paramilitary force that guards vital installations in the country. A CISF team headed by an assistant commandant and comprising of 45 personnel has taken over the security of IAC from the Director General of Resettlement (DGR) sponsored Ex-servicemen Security Agency.
