IISc didn’t heed suggestions

IISc didn’t heed suggestions
The Times of India

Bangalore: The gap between April 10 and Dec. 28, 2005, is a huge yawn between what has happened and what could have been prevented.

In the wake of the security breach during Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to the IISc on April 10, a report prepared by CoD DGP K R Sreenivasan has pointed out that at any given time IISc was manned only by 30 security personnel, six supervisory officers and one senior policeman. Among other recommendations on putting logistics in place, the report has a list of 10 suggestions to prevent untoward incidents at an illustrious venue.

The report had been presented to Lok Ayukta Justice N Venkatachala for an inquiry. Justice Venkatachala told The Times of India on Thursday, “The inquiry could not be conducted to its logical end because of various forces stalling it. The government suddenly said Blue Book rules don’t apply in this case. So we could not even go ahead and ask police to implement the suggestions. Besides, the police had information from intelligence wings that IISc had been sounded the red alert. Why didn’t they step up security?’’

The report was prepared based on diktats laid down by the Blue Book, a veritable Bible on security, protocol and the vigilance that should be followed during visits of “VVIPs, international delegates and international conferences’’. Going by the lackadaisical security present on the fatal 28/12, every norm of the Blue Book and suggestions spelt out by the report has been ignored.

For instance, the event at IISc on Wednesday was an international conference on ‘operations research applications’, with 300 delegates, including 36 from abroad, in attendance. Days after the previous security breach at IISc, the police in tandem with IISc representatives had been asked to ensure “anti-sabotage check’’ and have “sterilised conditions prevailing’’. Simply put, it means the event venue should be combed thoroughly and cleansed of any weapons and shrapnel, and even culverts in the vicinity must be checked thoroughly beforehand. Another recommendation: if the entrance to the building is to the east, there must be an alternate exit point in the opposite direction, west.

And this tops it all: the security agency at IISc, Shashi, has remained the same for the past 24 years.