A rocket launcher, a highly-sensitive influence mine, and a light machine gun– these were among the many weapons and ammunition found inside the BrahMos Aerospace headquarters located in the heart of Delhi. What is of great importance about their discovery in an extremely sensitive facility of national importance is this: they were all ‘unaccounted’ for.
According to a report of a security review of BrahMos from 2022 seen by Firstpost, the following items were found inside the missile-manufacturing company’s premises:
It is interesting to note that findings such as these, and sometimes less significant than these weapons, are referred to as “war-like stores” quite often in media reports.
How these unaccounted weapons were found
According to the documents accessed by Firstpost, BrahMos had initiated a probe into a potential security breach in its premises in late 2021. That probe was sparked off after it was suspected that Dr Sudhir Mishra, former Chief Executive Officer of BrahMos, had taken out multiple confidential documents, including Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) files of three nations, from the company’s premises. Firstpost has covered this extensively in
this
story.
Following that probe, another security review of the entire premises was conducted. It was during this investigation that the unaccounted weapons were found in two places: a store where personal items belonging to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam were kept, and at a store near the company’s reception.
The same investigation also found that the “CCTV system was manipulated to ensure required data was not saved.”
However, what probably is more concerning is the way the issue was handled.
How did BrahMos, DRDO handle the issue?
The committee reported what it had found to the top brass at BrahMos. BrahMos, in turn, informed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of the security lapses and the discovery of the ‘unaccounted’ weapons, according to a highly-placed source at the organisation who is privy to developments related to this matter. Note that BrahMos is a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The former is the majority stakeholder in BrahMos, owning 51 per cent of the company. In simple words, DRDO was the next level in the command chain.
It is on October 6, 2022, that the unaccounted weapons and ammunition were sent to Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune. ARDE is the main DRDO lab involved in the development of conventional weapons.
The handling of the case
This is where several key questions– all of great importance to national security and defence apparatus– arise.
While DRDO does develop weapons, it is primarily composed of scientists whose jobs revolve around research. It is by no means an agency comprising professional investigators or law enforcers who may be equipped to handle findings as significant as the armaments that were discovered.
Did DRDO instruct BrahMos to hand over these weapons to ARDE, Pune? Why were they handed over to a DRDO lab all the way in Pune, and not to police, or some other central government agency located in the national capital, where both DRDO and BrahMos are headquartered?
It is imperative to note here that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) can investigate offences related to the manufacture or sale of prohibited arms. The discovery of unaccounted weapons and ammunition, including a rocket launcher, a light machine gun, and an influence mine, falls under this category of offences.
Additionally, cases coming under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, also fall under the scheduled offences that the NIA is authorised to investigate. Since the items found at BrahMos HQ did include explosive substances as defined in the said Act, the investigation could come under the NIA’s jurisdiction under that umbrella, too.
Serious questions remain
What happened to the weapons and ammunition at ARDE? Were they able to trace the origins of the weapons?
Was it a mistake? Was it negligence? Or was it a larger plot that could have potentially threatened the security of one of India’s foremost defence establishments?
Were these lethal items later handed over to the police or any other investigation agency?
Did DRDO ever investigate the source of these unaccounted weapons, or is the BrahMos report the only one on the incident?
These and several other questions are still unanswered, as are Firstpost’s requests to comment to DRDO and BrahMos. Their response will be added in the article as and when received.
Read Firstpost’s entire coverage on the BrahMos HQ Security Breach here:
Link to article –
Exclusive | BrahMos HQ security breach: ‘Unaccounted’ rocket launcher, machine gun were found
