NEW DEHLI DRDO CHIEF OFFERS TO RESIGN OVER COMPUTER THEFT DRDO chief offered to quit after 'theft' - The Times of IndiaTIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 04, 2004 10:28:01 PM ]

NEW DELHI: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief and scientific adviser to the defence ministry, V K Aatre, had offered to put in his papers after the "theft" at Metcalfe House in view of the serious security breach and its implications.

"Aatre had offered to resign, but the then defence minister, George Fernandes, asked him not to do so. Fernandes, in fact, had asked RAW and IB to probe the matter," said sources.

As reported by Times News Network on Friday, "burglars" stole hard discs of 18 computers from DRDO's Scientific Analysis Group and Institute for Systems Studies and Analyses - located at Metcalfe House in north Delhi - on October 4-5 last year.

Security and intelligence agencies suspect "an inside hand" in the entire episode.

"It could also be the result of internal politics. The burglars were very selective in what they stole. They took away the hard discs and left the computer cabinets, keyboards and other stuff behind," they added.

The hard discs stored encryption codes, algorithms and other data used in providing "secure" telecommunication links of different government agencies.

"The armed forces, in fact, feel their encryption has been compromised by the incident. Fortunately, DRDO institutes were not involved with data connected to the Strategic Forces Command or nuclear command and control," say sources.

The defence ministry claims "no sensitive information" was stolen by the burglars. This has led the Delhi Police to go slow on the case, which was registered at the Civil Lines police station on October 10 last year.

Asked about the different inquiries into the case, the ministry only said: "The contents of the inquiry reports are classified in nature and it would be inappropriate to divulge them."

Sources, in turn, say the inquiry reports, among other things, point to the extreme lax security at Metcalfe House - an insecure perimeter, only a few security guards and poor access control systems.

One inquiry even held 17 officials and scientists guilty of lapses but only administrative action was taken against them