How secure is IT Park, Whitefield?

Grim news on Bangalore papers today. The city may have escaped a deadly attack by terrorists. There is a grimmer news that is not splashed -- there is nothing to suggest that the city is no longer on terrorist-hit list; or that the city won’t be.

To get an idea of the popularity of Bangalore just search for “Bangalore” in Google News or Yahoo News. There is a continual reference to the city in foreign newspapers and magazines; and most of the references pertain to IT.

This is not the first time Bangalore has shuddered under terror threat, though this is the worst news so far. A year back or so, intelligence agencies had been tipped off that Bangalore and Mysore are soft targets for terrorists. This time we have proof in the form of a diary of one of the terrorists (three of the gang were killed in Delhi on Saturday night) that mentioned the name of IT firm Polaris as a target. One person had even visited the office in Bangalore to get a map done.

At least this should wake up the govt and police here. For example, it is so simple for anyone to walk into the IT Park in Whitefield. The last time I went there was some 7 or 8 months back. I don’t know if things have improved. I doubt. There are lot of private security guards all around. No one checked my credentials; nor I found anyone else being checked. It looked like anyone could walk around without being questioned in the basement of the building. I think you are stopped only the reception of a particular office inside the huge building. That is no deterrent in today’s scenario.

During the couple of times I went there, I was quite surprised at the slack security there; at least not to match the hype about the place. May be yesterday’s development will spur someone into action.