ISRO trespassing case: B'lore police in Kerala

KOLLAM: A team of Karnataka police on Wednesday held inquiries in Punalur in Kerala's Kollam District as part of investigations in the case pertaining to the arrest of a Keralite woman for allegedly trespassing into ISRO premises in Bangalore last week using a fake ID card.

The 41-year-old woman Buela N Sam of Punalur, working in Ahmedabad, created a scare after she breached security to gain entry into the ISRO headquarters using a fake identity.

She had visited her hometown recently and allegedly made a fake identity card using which she gained access to the ISRO guest house and its headquarters.

According to local police sources, the investigators from Bangalore questioned the owner and employees of a studio in Punalur from where Beula had taken her photo and proceeded to the lamination centre in nearby Kottiyam from where she was suspected to have made the fake ID card.

The team also collected details about the antecedents of the woman. According to local police, Beula was in Punalur earlier this month in connection with a family bereavement. Her relatives said she had undergone treatment at a mental clinic near her hometown two years ago.

Using the fake identity card, she stayed at the ISRO Satellite Centre guest-house at Jeevanbheema Nagar for two days from September 19. On September 21, she gained entry into the high-security "Anthariksh Bhavan", ISRO headquarters.

She roamed around in the building premises for a couple of hours before some ISRO staff growing suspicious, reported the matter to the security and arrested her.

In Bangalore, city police commissioner Jyothiprakash Mirji said "nothing concrete" has emerged so far in the probe.

He said he had asked the investigating officer to take the accused to National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) for a medical checkup as she was stated to be "mentally unsound". "We are still awaiting the details from the IO", he said.

The woman was yesterday remanded remanded to four days police custody by a local court which had earlier sent her to judicial custody till October 6.