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Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, R&D (Life Sciences), DRDO Statement without Homework

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 DRDO lab seals suspect’s workstation – Deccan Chronicle -September 1, 2012 By B.R. Srikanth | S.V. Krishna Chaitanya DC Bengaluru/Mysore

Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, R&D (Life Sciences), stated that 

“This is the first time in the history of the DRDO that an insider has been arrested for suspected terror links. It came as a shock to the entire organisation. Generally, all top scientists, engineers and other officials of the technical and administrative divisions of the DRDO and offices are monitored by the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB). It’s one of those stray incidents,”

DRDO scientist was faculty member of Tripoli varsity
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Posted: Mon May 05 1997 IST

HYDERABAD, May 4: Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Srinivasulu, who was nabbed by Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials and city police here on Thursday night, was found to be working as a faculty member in the Tripoli University in Libya.

IB officials, acting on a tip off, sought the assistance of city police, who arrested the B-grade defence scientist at the Rajiv Gandhi International airport when he was about to board the Dubai-bound Air-India flight.

According to sources, Srinivasulu neither submitted his resignation nor obtained permission from the DRDO authorities for working in Libya. He obtained a passport without the knowledge of DRDO which is statutory. He left for Libya an year-and-half back and joined as a faculty member in the university at Tripoli.

During interrogation, Srinivasulu reportedly confessed before IB officials that he was taking some secret documents with him and one of his colleagues at Tripoli university, Kumar, was also involved in the spying.

Sources added that Srinivasulu has planned to go to Sharjah by the Dubai-bound Indian Airlines flight and then to Malta Islands in Africa by air. From there he was to catch a ship for Tripoli.

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DRDO to take action against terror suspect researcher

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Deccan Herald

New Delhi, Aug 31, 2012, (IANS) :

Taken by surprise over the arrest of one of its researchers in Karnataka for links with Pakistan-based terror outfits, India’s defence research agency Friday announced that it was initiating disciplinary action against him under government rules.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesperson Ravi Gupta said the youth, identified as Aijaz Ahmed Mirza, was only a junior researcher, which is a temporary position.

Mirza was not an employee, Gupta clarified.

“This has reference to reports in certain sections of media reporting the arrest of Aijaz Ahmed Mirza. In this regard, it is intimated that Mirza had been placed as Junior Research Fellow (JRF) for the past few months, at the Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), a DRDO laboratory,” he said.

Gupta also said that verification of Mirza’s antecedents as well as police verification was conducted in the process of his placement in the temporary position.

“He was not involved in any sensitive work and as such no sensitive/classified information has been compromised. Disciplinary action as per government of India rules is being taken,” he added.

Under the research fellowship scheme, DRDO offers opportunities to young scientists and engineers to work in its labs in the areas of basic research relevant to the laboratory.

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DRDO lab seals suspect’s workstation

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Deccan Chronicle 

September 1, 2012 By B.R. Srikanth | S.V. Krishna Chaitanya DC Bengaluru/Mysore

The top brass at the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) moved swiftly to seal the computer used by terror suspect Aijaz Ahmed Mirza, one of the 11 men arrested Thursday for links to banned terror groups HUJI and LeT.

Documents found on his table were stored with the computer in the organisation’s confidential room.

Scientists at CABS were reportedly shocked about Mirza’s links with LeT and HuJI as the engineering graduate who joined CABS as a junior research fellow in January 2012, was appointed after his antecedents were verified by local police.

Relieved officials said Mirza, who went home to Hubli ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, did not get a chance to check out the modified Embraer jet, acquired by the organisation to serve as the platform for made-in-India eye-in-the-sky, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system, which is now parked in the hangar of CABS.

DRDO: Mirza had no access to sensitive info

The Defence Research and Development Organisation clarified on Friday that Aijaz Mohd Mirza, one of the 11 terror suspects arrested, was not an engineer or a scientist, with access to sensitive information that could prove a threat to national security.

Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, R&D (Life Sciences), DRDO, said Mirza was a low cadre temporary recruit, who was appointed as Junior Research Fellow (JRF) on a two-year contract in January, 2012 at the Centre for Airborne Systems which didn’t deal with sensitive information.

“This is the first time in the history of the DRDO that an insider has been arrested for suspected terror links. It came as a shock to the entire organisation. Generally, all top scientists, engineers and other officials of the technical and administrative divisions of the DRDO and offices are monitored by the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB). It’s one of those stray incidents,” he said.

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11 Bangalore terror suspects remanded in police custody

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THE HINDU – BANGALORE, August 31, 2012
The 11 persons arrested by the Bangalore police on Wednesday on the charge of plotting terror strikes in Karnataka, were remanded in police custody for 14 days by a judicial magistrate here on Thursday. Defence Research and Development Organisation, where suspect Aijaz Ahmed Mirza was employed as a junior research fellow, issued a release on Friday, saying Mirza “was not involved in any sensitive work and, as such, no sensitive/classified information has been compromised.”

“Disciplinary action as per Government of India rules is being taken [against Aijaz],” it said adding Mirza’s antecedents were verified before he was taken in.

Even as the police remained tight-lipped, heads of various Muslim organisations, at a press conference, expressed concern at the developments. Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) State president Ashfaq Ahmed said journalist Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui was a listed member of the SIO and the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Jamaat leader Moulana Wahiduddin Khan said, “If those arrested are found guilty, they should be punished by all means.” But he called for more transparency on the part of the police. “Why is it that terrorists from a certain community are always arrested when elections are near,” he asked.

At another press conference, Muthi-ur-Rahman’s brother Ata-ur-Rahman said: “My heart says my brother is innocent.” Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch of Bangalore police arrested Ubed-ul-Rahman, an MBA student, in Hyderabad.

CLARIFICATION

In a report from Bangalore published in the issue of August 31, headlined “Journalist among 11 arrested for ‘plotting terror in Karnataka’,” the description of some journalists who were purportedly targeted by the alleged plotters as ones “known for their virulent anti-minority columns” was unfair and unwarranted, and escaped gatekeeping mechanisms that are in place to keep such editorialising comments out of the news columns of this newspaper. That description, as well as the loose and imprecise reference to the “divergent ideologies” of two terrorist organisations are regretted and may be deemed as withdrawn. — The Editor

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Bangalore police arrest journalist, 10 others on terror charges

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THE HINDU- BANGALORE, August 30, 2012

They were allegedly plotting to assassinate BJP politicians, Hindutva leaders and journalists

The Central Crime Branch of the Bangalore police arrested six men from the city, including an English newspaper reporter, and five from Hubli on Wednesday on charges of plotting a terrorist attack in the State.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the Director General and Inspector General of Police Lalrokhuma Pachau said that the accused were plotting to assassinate prominent politicians, Hindutva leaders as well as some journalists. He dismissed earlier claims by police officers, who told reporters on the condition of anonymity, that the Uttar Pradesh police was involved in the operation.

In a release, the police claimed that they recovered a 7.65 mm pistol and seven live rounds from those arrested in Bangalore. The police said that the accused were “working for the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat-ul-jihad-al-islami”.

Among those arrested was 26-year-old Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui a reporter who covered the higher education beat for the English daily Deccan Herald. He was arrested on Wednesday from his flat in Mubarak Mohalla of J.C Nagar along with his roommates who have been identified as MCA student Shoaib Ahmed Mirza, his brother and DRDO junior scientist Aijaz Ahmed Mirza (26), Abdullah Hakim Jamadar (25), Mohammed Yusuf Nalband (28), BCA graduate and salesman Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti (28).

Those arrested from Hubli have been identified as Ubedullah Imran (24), Mohammed Sadiq Lakshkar (28), Wahid Hussain (26) and Dr. Jaffar Iqbal Sholapur.

Police claimed that the group, which was allegedly linked to an international terror network, was under surveillance for the last four months. They were arrested just before they were to execute their plan, police claimed. The release also said that the accused are being investigated for their role in circulating SMSs and MMSs that led to panic among the city’s residents from northeast.

However, contesting police claims, A. M. Mirza, father of Shoaib and Aijaz Ahmed Mirza, said his sons had been framed as part of a “larger conspiracy.”

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Scientist, journalist among 11 arrested for suspected terror plot

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Published: Friday, Aug 31, 2012, 8:52 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

The Central Crime Branch police have busted a terror plot and arrested 11 members with alleged links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji). The arrested include a scientist from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and a journalist of a leading English daily – both from Bangalore – who along with the others arrested were preparing to eliminate political leaders and journalists at the behest of their handlers from Saudi Arabia.

Of the 11 arrested, six are Bangalore and five from Hubli, operating from two separate modules – the Hubli one to target politicians and the Bangalore one to target journalists.
City police commissioner BG Jyotiprakash Mirji said the two terror modules were busted after monitoring their movements over the past three months.

Preliminary investigations revealed that these were terror modules with international links and the police now suspect that several such modules may be existing in Karnataka and other parts of the country. This is now being investigated and the police expect several leads to emerge on interrogating the 11.

Mirji said in separate operations a team of police on Wednesday picked up Shoib Ahmed Mirza alias Chotu, a charted accountant aged 25 and his brother Ajaz Ahmed Mirza, 25, who worked as junior research scientist in DRDO, Abdulla alias Abdul Hakim Jamadaar, 25, Mohammed Yusuf Nalband, 28, Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti, 28 and Mati-ur-Rahman Siddiqui (journalist), 26. All were residing in a rented house in Munireddypalya in the RT Nagar area of Bangalore.

The police confiscated laptops, mobiles and a foreign-made 7.65 mm pistol with seven live cartridges from them.

An official involved in the investigations said accused Shoib alias Chotu, was trained in Pakistan by the LeT. The accused had also planned a terror attack in the IT city at the time of Ganesh Festival and they have already stolen and purchased a few bikes and four-wheelers for their operations.

This group was planning to eliminate a columnist of a Kannada newspaper and the editor-in-chief of the same newspaper (both residing in Bangalore) and had even conducted several reconnaissance and surveillance operations on their movements.
The Bangalore module members had allegedly also stolen a few vehicles to carry out their reconnaissance and surveillance of their targets and were caught in the nick of time, sources in the department said.

Meanwhile, another team of CCB officials nabbed members of the Hubli terror module who were shadowing politicians. The five arrested in Hubli have been identified as Obedulla Imran Bahadur alias Sameer alias Imran, 24, Mohammed Sadiq Lakshkar alias Raju, 28, Waahid Hussain alias Saahil, 26, Baba alias Mehaboob, 26, and Dr Jaffar Iqbal Sholapur, 27. Unlike their counterparts in Bangalore, the Hubli terror module members were picked up from various locations in Hubli.

Mirji said the arrests were the culmination of a three-month-long operation of the CCB which monitored the movement of the members of both the terror modules closely and picked them to avert averting a major terror attack.

The accused have been booked under 120 B , 153 B, 307, 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Unlawful Assembly And Arms Act, Mirji said, adding that a case has been booked against all the 11 members in Basaveshwaranagar police station in Bangalore.

“Although we have been unable to establish their involvement in previous terror attacks, we are investigating to ascertain their role in circulating hate SMSes/MMSes which triggered the exodus of people from the northeast in the city,” Mirji said.

He said the police, on a tip-off, began collecting details about the accused persons and arrested them before they could launch their attack. “Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused are members of international terrorist outfits and they have spread their links in Karnataka and other states,” he said.

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Bangalore: Family of terror suspect opposes arrest

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IBN Karnataka | Posted on Aug 31, 2012 at 08:25am IST

Bangalore: The father of one of the 11 men arrested by the Bangalore Police on Wednesday on charges of having links with terror groups Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the HuJI and plotting attacks on MPs, MLAs and journalists, has said that the family wasn’t informed his arrest. The man worked as an engineer at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

“We didn’t get any message of his arrest. The police did not give any information about his whereabouts. My elder son works at the DRDO. His name his Ajaz,” said AM Mirza.
The Bangalore Police on Wednesday arrested 11 people, including a journalist with a popular English daily, for suspected terror links. Sources said the arrests were made as the eleven were planning to kill a prominent columnist with a Kannada newspaper, who had written an anti-Islam article, said Karnataka DGP Lalrokhuma Pachau.
Addressing a press conference, Commissioner of Police, Bangalore, JP Mirji said a foreign-made pistol and other incriminating evidence were recovered from them.
Mirji added that those arrested have links with Saudi Arabia-based LeT and HuJI and it is suspected that they have more supporters in other states. “Targeting individuals could have created communal tension,” he said.
Mirji said more details could not be revealed at the time as investigations were still on.
Sources say that the Uttar Pradesh Police provided their Bangalore counterparts the intelligence about the terror group, which has links with Indian Mujahideen. Sources add that the questioning of those arrested is on.
At least three of the arrests were made in Hubli in north Karnataka.
Meanwhile, four suspected Indian Mujahideen activists involved in the 2010 Chinnaswamy Stadium blast case were detained in Bangalore on Thursday for questioning, police said.
Fifteen people were injured when two bombs exploded at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18, 2010 on the eve of the Bangalore-Mumbai IPL semifinal match.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Director General of Police Lalrokhuma Pachau said backgrounds of those picked up was being checked.

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DRDO staffer, 10 others arrested for terror links in Bangalore

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 TNN | Aug 31, 2012, 05.02AM IST

BANGALORE: An employee of a DRDO division and a journalist were among 11 men, all in their twenties, arrested by Karnataka police for alleged links with global terror outfits. A day after an operation to nab these men ended on Wednesday, police said they had been told the group had plans to assassinate MPs and MLAs from the state, a businessman and two journalists from Bangalore.

Six of them were picked up from Bangalore on Wednesday morning, hours after the others were arrested in Hubli. Police said all had links with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihadal-Islami. Ejaz Mohammed Mirza, one of the men arrested, works for Airborne Early Warning and Control System, a DRDO division, sources in central intelligence and state home ministry said. An imported 7.65 mm revolver, seven bullets, computers, hard disks, mobile phones and religious tracts were recovered from the men, state police chief Lalrokhuma Pachau told reporters on Thursday.

Those arrested in Bangalore are Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, 26; Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu, 25; Abdullah alias Abdul Hakim Jamadar, 25; Ejaz Mohammed Mirza, 25; Mohammed Yusuf Nalbandh, 28; and Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti, 28.

Bangalore City Crime Branch (CCB) officials had kept their visit so secret that even local police had no information about it. A six-member BCCB team headed by police inspectors NB Sakri and Anand Kabbure arrived in Hubli on Sunday morning in a private vehicle. The team brought with them a computer analyst, videographer, photographer and technical experts.

They stayed at a lodge close to the old bus terminus and chalked out a plan to trail and arrest the youths. The team had information about their alleged links with terrorist organizations. Before picking up the accused, the CCB officials reportedly travelled through the city on motorbikes and monitored the movements of the suspects. They also verified registers of all local hotels to find out whether any suspects were lodged there.

After confirming the fact that all the suspects were staying in their houses in Hubli, the team began to execute its plan. Around 9am Wednesday, the BCCB team members raided the houses of all the suspects and took them into custody. The operation was over in just 30 minutes. Around 11am, the team left for Bangalore with the youths. “Five officials in civil clothes came home when my wife, daughter and daughterin-law were there. They asked for Jaffer,who was sleeping in his room. They asked my wife whether our son is a drug addict. They have left after seizing his laptop and cell phone. They haven’t said why they were picking up my son,” said Shaikh Rafeeq Ahmad, father of Jaffer Iqbal Sholapur, one of the accused.

Local police came to know of the detainment when the family members of the youths visited the local police stations in Keshwapur and Old Hubli, seeking clarifications. Hubli-Dharwad police commissioner BA Padmanayan said: “We are not aware of the arrest of the youths. The operation was carried out by CCB.”

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DRDO should focus on areas where it has capacity to deliver: Manmohan

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DRDO should focus on areas where it has capacity to deliver: Manmohan
TNN Aug 1, 2012, 02.00AM IST

NEW DELHI: With India still importing well over 60% of its military hardware and software, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday asked DRDO to concentrate on key strategic and military technology areas to ensure weapon systems are developed without huge time and cost overruns.

In the backdrop of crucial projects like the Tejas light combat aircraft running way behind schedule, the PM said, “The share of the indigenous content in defence procurement continues to be low. We need to take a hard look at the pipeline of our projects and focus our time and material resources on selected areas where we have demonstrated capacity to deliver projects within reasonable time and cost.”
Holding there was “a net deterioration in international strategic and security environment”, “political uncertainties in our neighbourhood”, turmoil in West Asia and ever-growing terrorism and cyber threats, the PM said the armed forces would be provided the “wherewithal” to secure “our frontiers”.

This will, in the long term, help India to build a robust domestic defence industrial base, in both the public and private sectors, to compete with global players in developing state-of-the-art technologies.

“We need to give the industry a boost and quicken the pace of development. The role of DRDO is this is truly critical, given that there are 800 enterprises supporting its projects and programmes,” he said.

Readers’ opinions (15)

sd (delhi) 27 days ago
first of all manmohan singh should look for indian industry which is shutting down day by day . indian industries keep on labeling chinese products due to low pricing in china & poor facilities given to industrialist like electricity etc. number of forms are there to fill at the time of dispatches, waste of time & paper. they should implement gst to get rid of various taxes

ADM (Bangalore)3 Followers 27 days ago Silver: 1463323
DRDO is a public sector failure and MMS is a public elect failure……

Baba (Delhi) 27 days ago
Bio-toilets of DRDO is only required for using in extreme cold areas where temperature is sub-zero and some what beneficial in trains…… but in plains in normal temperatures in villages it works just like any normal toilet with under ground septic tank… only difference is they use more costly metal septic tank …. and even they add some bacteria in to the tanks…. it is essential as faecal matter degradation occurs naturally…….. It is only helpful earning of crores of rupies for DRDO ToT holders and gain some media hype for DRDO people by fooling the rural development minister. with the cost of one so called Bio-toilet 4 toilets can me constructed in villages that too with using local available resources and emplying local unemplyed people. Using fasionable words”Bio-Toilets” they r fooling common man of the country… and the ministers as well…….

Pram (Mumbai) 28 days ago
In which area MMS has capacity to deliver?

Sopan Thengadi (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) 5 Followers 28 days ago Silver: 3566434
The ‘delivery capacity’ of DRDO and other PSUs are well known. Tejas, Mig 21, LCH projecet, MBT Arjun, Air India – the list of underperformers is unending !!!
sinha.asok (Patna) 57 Followers 28 days ago Gold: 5587432
In a country all limelight is hogged by the politicians and bureaucrats and scientists are not even recognised for their contributions, it is too much to expect much from them. MMS should, first of all, start delivering on the social and economic fronts to prepare a conducive environment to face deteriorating security situation on the international stage.

pk (delhi) 28 days ago
Manmohan singh better focus on some economic strategies for country, rather than blaming DRDO

pr (bengaluru) 28 days ago
Once upon a time a cat mewed and dozed off again when the entire country plunged into darkness

Sudhir (IND) 57 Followers 28 days ago Gold: 10.5K542
Manmohan Singh is the most corrupt PM, Hindustan as ever seen. He as given Secular Congress members licences to loot the public.

hihari (Canada) 21 Followers 28 days ago Silver: 4534432
Sach bola MMS. DRDO has been putting its foot everywhere to have budget worth billions of dollars, but has delivered not even 50% of major projects! MMS bolts sach hai par karta kuch nahi hai, kya Karen iska!

Kartun Mhd with bomb (Kangress hate camp) 28 days ago Gold: 5022441
Manmohan should relax, because he does not have capacity to focus anywhere, except on Sonia’s instructions.

Air Cmde Raghubir Singh(Retd) (Pune) 28 days ago
Yes of course ideally DRDO should be concentrating on key military technologies to deliver without time & cost over runs-but how? If we have lagged behind in Tejas, option is not to get out of the aircraft development & concentrate on say making guns –we have to catch up with aviation technology too. Developing appropriate technologies should be national mission. For example we have been manufacturing MiG’s in our Hindustan Aeronautics for the last 50 years or so. Has the joint program between Russia & India lead us to any worthwhile aviation technology which could have been useful in our LCA or was it merely CKD’s riveted and nut-bolted in our complexes here –the Tatra way all the time? MoD must take a hard look of technology content in such joint ventures & also cost of locally assembled aircraft being comparable to the fly away imports. Now that DRDO has achieved breakthrough and much needed successes in quick successions in missiles & other areas, it must continue the dream run by change of leadership in labs which have been lagging behind. It may even think of getting service officers on deputation to man critical programs

Suraj Vanch (Wlltn) 28 days ago
the poodle barks

Dom pereira (Florida) 28 days ago
until and unless India allows the private sector to take part in defense manufacture in a big way India will never be able to be self sufficient in defense production. Private companies have the capacity to follow strict time frame which is very crucial to bring the cost down. In the U.S private firms run most defense companies and the results are for all to see.

dasg (ny) 28 days ago
PM Singh also ask this question to himself, has he capacity to deliver on much needed economic reforms on coal, power, labour and much else. It is easy to point to failures by others. He has failed miserably and hapless public is paying a heavy price for his incompetence in building consensus and pushing through much need economic reforms

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Prithvi II tested successfully

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TNN | Aug 26, 2012, 01.07AM IST

HYDERABAD: The 350-km range surface-to-surface Prithvi II missile was successfully flight tested at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Balasore district in Odisha on Saturday giving the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) the Prithvi power.

“It was a text-book launch with very high accuracy. With this test launch, we can say that the SFC has demonstrated its expertise in firing the missile,” DRDO director general and scientific advisor to defence minister, V K Saraswat, told STOIon phone from Balasore.

Saraswat said the missile had an accuracy of better than 10 metersand this showed the standard of the missile. The single stage liquid propelled vehicle developed by DRDO was inducted into the armed forces and one of the missiles drawn from the inventory of the armed forces was test-fired by the SFC on Saturday. The vehicle is guided all through by an accurate Inertial Navigation System (INS) and controlled by the Thrust Vector Control and Aero-Dynamic Control Systems.

The missile developed by DRDO was flight tested from Launch Complex III by the SFC as part of its training exercise. The indigenous missile hit the target in the Bay of Bengal which was witnessed by a naval shiplocated near the target.

According to DRDO officials, all the radars, electro optical systems located along the coast tracked and monitored all the parameters of the missile throughout the flight path. The entire launch operation was carried out by the armed forces and monitored by scientists of DRDO.

Prithvi II has been successfully flight tested a number of times as part of development, induction and training exercises. Saturday’s launch, however, tested the Areliability of Prithvi and confirmed the successful induction into the services, a DRDO official said.

The team of armed forces and scientists were led by project director Siva Subramanyam and programme director Adalat Ali, director, DRDL, Hyderabad.