Narora security breached, almost

Senior police officers refused comment on the security lapse. SSP Padmaja earlier said a constable had been suspended and the SO of the area police station sent to the police lines for dereliction of duty.

Sources said labour contractor Dharam Vir, enlisted at the atomic plant, had hired the three youths, all residents of Aligarh, but gave his own house address of Nandpur as theirs. Only four years ago, Dharam Vir had been sent to jail in Bulandshahr for faking an address in Aligarh for getting a gun licence. Now, questions are being raised as to how Dharam Vir was employed at the atomic plant despite his criminal record.

Narora authorities pass the buck. While police allege that the Narora plant engineers are to blame for failing to put security procedures in place, engineers point to the suspension of the policemen as indication that the police was to blame.

Narora plant spokesperson MK Tandon, however, said Dharam Vir’s papers were scrutinised but the criminal record was mentioned nowhere. As per rules, there is no enrollment without verification by the local police. The CISF which looks after internal security issues the entry permit only thereafter, said Tandon. The beat constable who went to register Dharam Vir’s family members was not informed of the three youths, police said.

Instead, the police now say they had sought, in writing , from the atomic plant officials, verification records for the past four years but are yet to receive the papers.