Looking for clues: Forensic experts at the National Science Seminar Complex

BANGALORE AND HYDERABAD
January 4, January 5 and January 6

The Infosys technologies campus in Bangalore's Electronic City these days resembles a high security research facility in a Hollywood movie. This correspondent, like most other journos in India's Silicon City, has been there hundreds of times chasing stories and fighting deadlines. But this time, it's different. Motion detection cameras keep 24x7 watch on the electronic fencing around its 80-acre campus; patrolling by its uniformed security guards has been intensified; and the company has segregated the visitors' car parking to contain the impact of a car bomb going off on its campus. It's evident that the December 28 terror attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) has India's tech community running scared, though no one will admit it on record. The Electronic City Association, an umbrella organisation representing all occupants of the eponymous campus, has asked the government to set up police and fire stations in the area and intensify police patrolling there.

Across the city, Wipro has also tightened its security. "We have well established security processes in and around our facilities. They are always geared to meet any untoward incident. Additional security controls have also been implemented in view of the recent incidents," says a company spokesperson. "The perception of Bangalore as a safe city has changed as a result of the attack," says a senior Wipro executive.

Consoling Puri's family: Ex-PM H.D. Deve Gowda (L) briefs reporters outside M.S. Ramaiah Hospital

"The attack on Bangalore could be one of the contributing factors that affect its standing as a secure location to set up shop," says a security analyst with Hill & Associates, a Hong Kong-based risk management and business intelligence firm.

Cut to the evening of December 28. The scene in front of the J.N. Tata auditorium, part of the National Science Seminar Complex, at IISC is chaotic. There are swarms of policemen, scientists, news hounds and curious passers-by milling around, confounding the confusion. It's 8.00 p.m.; an hour since an unidentified gunman (some reports said there were more than one) opened fire on a group of 300 scientists and academics who were proceeding to the nearby dinner hall after wrapping up the three-day 38th Annual Convention of Operations Research Society of India, killing M.C. Puri of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, on the spot and injuring four others, including Vijay Chandru, inventor of the Simputer.

The law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area; and combing teams with their sniffer dogs are going through the campus inch-by-inch looking for clues. They discover a couple of spent grenades, half a dozen magazines (to store bullets, not read) and a Chinese-made ak-56 rifle.

The end: An ambulance taking Puri's body out of M.S. Ramaiah Hospital

The media is also caught up in the excitement. Even as citizens of India's Silicon City are coming to terms with their first taste of terrorism, the air waves are rife with live reportage that sometimes borders on the hysterical; dire predictions are being made about Bangalore's future as a global tech hub. "This certainly is a blow to Bangalore's reputation as a safe city," Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy tells reporters. A Red Alert has been sounded in neighbouring metros such as Chennai and Hyderabad and all exit routes from the city have been blocked.

As news of the attack filters in, public sector enterprises and it companies, which have made Bangalore their home, begin to review their security. The headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is just a 10-minute drive from IISC, is ringed by a posse of gun-totting CISF personnel and a rolling gate, which normally stays open, is closed.

Meanwhile, within an hour of the attack in Hyderabad, Satyam Computer convenes a meeting of key senior managers and then declares "Code Delta", a heightened state of security preparedness. "It (the terror attack) is something that's bothering us, and yes, we've beefed up security. We've even started the practice of randomly checking the bags of our associates," says A.S. Murthy, Director, Satyam. Oracle, which has its global security systems in place here as well, is also reviewing its processes and has stepped up liaisoning with the local law enforcement authorities.

Those left behind: Puri's family grieves besides his body

But despite the concern, the hype and some of the knee-jerk reactions, the terror attack is unlikely to affect the Indian it industry in the long-term. "I don't think the recent attack has dented Bangalore's reputation... we have not had a single client calling us about this issue. This is in stark contrast to the deluge of calls we received a few of years ago when Indo-Pak hostilities broke out. I also think Indian vendors have better communications processes in place now and so, are better prepared to address perception issues such as this one. This helps allay client fears before they become a widespread concern," says Partha Iyengar, Vice President at Gartner Group, one of the world's leading technology consultancies.

Post script: The Andhra Pradesh police arrested Abdul Rehman, a Bangladeshi national, from Nalgonda, 200 km from Hyderabad, on January 3. Rehman is a "commander" in the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the alleged mastermind of the attack on IISC. He has been handed over to the Bangalore Police and remanded to 14 days in custody.