Attempted break-in at IAF's Paris office handling Rafale procurement
New Delhi: In a suspected case of espionage, there was an attempted break-in on Sunday at the Indian Air Force's Paris office which is overseeing production of 36 Rafale fighter jets for India, military sources said.
A group of unidentified persons broke into the office of the IAF's Rafale project management team in the suburbs of Paris and local police are probing whether the attempt was to steal classified data relating to the aircraft.
"As per initial assessment, no data or hardware have been stolen. The local police are investigating the incident," said a source.
The sources said the IAF has briefed the defence ministry about the incident.
The IAF's office of Rafale project management is located at the complex of Dassault Aviation, the makers of the Rafale jets.
There was no official reaction from either the defence ministry or the IAF about the incident.
The IAF project management team is headed by a Group Captain and it comprises two fighter pilots, one logistics officer and a number of weapons experts and engineers.
The team is coordinating with Dassault Aviation on manufacture of Rafale jets as well as on weapons package onboard the aircraft.
India had signed a government-to-government deal in September 2016 with France for procuring 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore.
The first Rafale is scheduled to be delivered in September this year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Four months on, no breakthrough in missing Bengaluru girls case; CID probe ordered
Bengaluru: The case of two students who went missing under mysterious circumstances four months ago in the jurisdiction of Vidyaranyapura Police Station has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation, as no breakthrough has been made so far.
The missing students have been identified as Taniska, a second PUC student, and Tejaswini, a first PUC student. Both went missing on January 31 after leaving their homes, carrying only their Aadhaar cards. They have not returned since, prompting their parents to file a complaint with the police.
During the initial investigation, police found CCTV footage showing the two students crossing certain junctions. There were early indications that they may have travelled towards Male Mahadeshwara Hills, but searches conducted there did not yield any results, sources said.
Police teams carried out searches in more than 100 locations across the country, including Mysuru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kerala, and Delhi. However, no trace of the students has been found. Cops said the two have not used mobile phones or ATM cards since their disappearance. They have also not contacted friends, relatives, or family members, making the case more difficult to crack.
With no progress in the investigation, the parents had urged the government to hand over the case to the CID. Following this, the government transferred the case to the CID, and a special team has now been formed to trace the missing students.
