Two arrested for stealing computer hardware from under-construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier

Two youths have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the theft of computer hardware components from the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) under-construction at the Cochin Shipyard last year.

Sumit Kumar Singh (23), who hails from Munger in Bihar and Daya Ram (22) from resident of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan were apprehended by the investigators from their houses on Tuesday, the NIA said on Wednesday.

They were accused of stealing electronic components, including five micro-processors, ten RAMs and five Solid State Drives (SSDs) from the Multi-Functional Consoles (MFCs) aboard the Ship. MFCs form part of Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) of the project.

The Ernakulam Town (South) Police Station had initially registered the FIR on 16 September, 2019 on the complaint of the Cochin Shipyard authorities regarding the criminal trespass and theft of certain critical electronic components installed on-board Indigenous Aircraft Carrier under-construction at the Cochin Shipyard. NIA later took over the case and re-registered the case ten days later.

As there were no initial clues, the NIA said, it analysed fingerprints and palm-prints of more than 5,000 people who had worked in the IAC project during this period. A large number of witnesses were examined and in March this year, the agency announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anybody who gives any credible leads in the case.

According to the NIA case summary posted on its website, it was a case of trespass and theft of critical electronic components, installed on-board the IAC under-construction at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in Kochi between August 29, 2019 and September 13, 2019.

It caused "damage and destruction of highly sensitive defence infrastructure with the intention of threatening the security of Indian and waging war against the Government of India by unknown persons", it had said.