| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
BANGALORE, India : Security guards at a space centre in southern India on Tuesday exchanged fire with two men who were acting suspiciously near the facility, an official said.
The shootout occurred in the early hours of Tuesday at the Deep Space Network, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bangalore, when the security guards challenged two men, one of whom began firing a handgun.
"In retaliation, our guards fired at the suspects who fled from the spot and vanished in darkness," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told AFP.
"We have registered a case with the local police who have posted extra men at the facility."
India has been on high alert since a bombing in the city of Pune in February that killed 16. The country is seen as under threat from militants in neighbouring Pakistan as well as homegrown groups.
The attack in Pune was the first since an assault on Mumbai in November 2008 that left 166 dead.
Satish said police were investigating whether the shootout was the work of militants or common criminals.
The Deep Space Network was set up in 2007 by the state-run ISRO for receiving data and images from the country's first unmanned lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-1, which was launched in 2008.
- AFP/vm
|
