Pakistani agents making calls to executives at oil installations to extract key detailst

NEW DELHI: Indian oilBSE -0.92 % installations are on Pakistan's radar. The Intelligence Bureau has advised the oil ministry to step up safety and information shield at important energy installations after it intercepted a conversation in which a Pakistani spy was heard extracting information from an oil industry executive.

Since the September 18 terror attack in Uri and the retaliatory surgical strikes by the Indian Army on terror camps across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, there have been fears of an escalation of conflict on both sides of the border prompting defence forces and intelligence agencies to be on high alert.

IB recently intercepted a conversation in which a Pakistani operative, posing as an officer of India's external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing, engaged on phone an executive managing a sensitive hydrocarbon pipeline in Rajasthan and sought finer details about the facility, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

IB has warned that several Pakistani spies are making pseudonymous calls from across the border as well as within India to executives at oil installations to extract details, sources said. It suggested that oil industry executives be sensitised so they do not end up sharing vital information.

An oil ministry spokesman said the home ministry handles internal security matters and will take appropriate action. A spokesman for Indian Oil Corp said the country's largest refiner has sensitised its officials and security personnel at refineries in North India in this regard.

Blowing up a pipeline or damaging a refinery can cause long-term harm by triggering energy shortage in some regions besides the loss of lives and infrastructure.

Installations in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab, which share their border with Pakistan, are always seen as the most vulnerable to enemy attacks. In the past too, India's top refineries — Reliance Industries' 60-million-tonne per annum refining complex, the world's largest, Essar's 20-million-tonne plant in Gujarat, and HPCL-Mittal's 9-million-tonne refinery in Punjab — have faced terror threats although they have not been attacked. Indian Oil Corp also has a 14-million-tonne refinery in Gujarat. Together, these four facilities constitute about 45% of India’s refining capacity.

India's biggest onshore oil field, which accounts for a quarter of the country's crude oil production, is located in the border district of Barmer in Rajasthan. Cairn India operates this field as well as a pipeline that carries crude to refineries.

The Central Industrial Security Force guards most oil refineries in the country. Pipelines are usually more vulnerable as they aren't constantly watched, and most companies do not employ very sophisticated technologies to ensure safety.

Attacking oil installations serves terror groups' bigger agenda to cripple the Indian economy that has been growing at the fastest pace among all major economies in the world.


(Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com)

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