The Hindu Business Line : Bomb scare at Wipro Tech office in Bangalore; staff evacuated

The dog squad of the police checking the Wipro Technologies office (a division of Wipro Ltd) on M.G. Road in Bangalore on Wednesday following a bomb threat. - V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore , March 9

WIPRO Technologies' office on Mahatma Gandhi Road in the central business district of Bangalore received a bomb scare on Wednesday.

The Bangalore Police said it was a hoax call, after which a thorough search of the premises was conducted. Close to 200 employees were evacuated following the call, sources said.

This office is one of the several locations in the city from where the company operates. The company's main campus is located on Sarjapur Road on the city outskirts.

It has close to 20,000 people working from various locations in the city.

Major software firms in Bangalore have started reassessing their security requirements and intensified checks in the wake of possible threats from the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Several companies whom Business Line spoke to said they have intensified the physical checks and redeployed the security men. However, none of the spokespersons of major IT firms were willing to comment.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government has assured the software industry that it would provide necessary protection in the wake of a possible militant threat.

"There is no need for any apprehension by industries over these threats. Government will provide security to them," the Minister for Industries, Mr P.G.R. Sindhia, said.

He said he would invite industrialists for a dialogue on the security related issues after the coming Budget session.

"In software companies physical entry is not permissible without checking. SEEPZ (Santa Cruz Electronic Export Processing Zone, the area where Mastek's main development centre is located) is a high security zone itself. We are ready for any such problems. We have various levels of security — physical checkup, turnstile... You need an admit to enter the premises," a spokesperson for Mumbai-based Mastek Ltd said.

"We heard of the bomb scare and are closely following the development — it is a bit unusual for a software company to be targeted. Like any other good company we are taking all security precautions: we are being extra vigilant. Our security is handled by a professional agency," said Mr N.R.K. Raman, COO, i-flex Solutions.

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Bomb scare at Wipro Tech office in Bangalore; staff evacuated