The NIA court in Kochi pronounced verdict against the two accused who stole key computer hardware components from the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) INS Vikrant in August-September 2019. The court sentenced the main accused to five years imprisonment and the second accused to three years imprisonment.
The two criminals are Sumit Kumar, a native of Bihar and Dayaram, a native of Rajasthan, who have been slapped with imprisonment by the NIA Court. The charges of theft and cyber security were charged against the accused. However, during the probe by NIA, they did not find the crime of treason.
The stolen parts included five micro-processors, 10 RAMs and five solid-state drives from the multi-functional consoles aboard the ship. The multi-functional consoles form part of the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) of the Project.
One of the hard drives stolen by the duo was, however, sold on OLX, a digital platform for selling goods. The duo wanted to make money by selling components but only managed to sell the industrial hard drive on OLX for Rs 10,000.
The duo worked as painters at the Cochin Shipyard. Both accused were nabbed from their houses.