A bomb threat call to India’s spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh sent security agencies into a tizzy on Monday. Security personnel at the high-security Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR) and the Tirupati district police went on high alert following a call received about the bomb threat to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facility.
The phone call was reportedly made to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Centre at Chennai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu around midnight. This prompted a large-scale check in and around the SHAR centre.
CISF and police teams searched the premises and its surroundings. The Indian Coast Guard also launched a simultaneous search along the coast.Search was also carried out in the SHAR employees’ colony near the facility. Senior police officials from the district led the search efforts.
After a thorough search, the phone call was found to be a hoax. SDSC SHAR is one of the lead centres of the ISRO. It provides world-class launch base infrastructure for national and international customers in accomplishing diverse launch vehicle/satellite missions for remote sensing, communication, navigation & scientific purposes and is one among the best known names of the Spaceports of the world today, according to information on ISRO’s rocket-launching facility.
This spindle-shaped island, situated in the backwater Pulicat Lake and sandwiched between Buckingham Canal on the West and the Bay of Bengal on the East, was chosen in 1969 for setting up the rocket launch station of the country. It became operational in 1971. Sriharikota covers an area of about 175 square km with a coastline of 50 km.
Last month, mock drills were carried out at SHAR in view of the India-Pakistan military conflict. Officials said the exercise was aimed at evaluating the preparedness, coordination, and response time of security forces in the event of a potential threat.
Various security and emergency units, such as the CISF Quick Response Team, CISF Bomb Disposal Team, CISF Fire Department, and medical staff, participated in the drill.