Bengal CID to procure mobile X-Ray devices for IED detection

Kolkata: In a bid to augment its capability in tracing Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), West Bengal, is seeking to procure eight compact portable X-Ray machines that can detect detonators, explosive materials etc. in any concealed suspicious boxes.

Sources told this newspaper that what the CID is looking to procure is called a hand-held Real Time Viewing System (RTVS). It is a compact portable X-Ray machine that can be carried in a backpack by a single individual and is designed to take digital 16-bit X-Ray images on the spot to locate power source, mechanism, detonator, explosive materials etc. in any concealed suspicious boxes or enclosure items.

The department is learnt to have floated an E-tender for the same. Further, the CID is looking for an RTVS that should be able to penetrate a minimum 25mm of stainless steel/tool steel.

Security experts said such devices can take images of IEDs of various types such as plastic briefcases, stainless steel or tool-steel pipe bombs and tiffin box bombs, school bags, etc. The system will generate hi-quality X-Rays wherein various components of the IED can be identified. The RTVS sought to be procured by the CID are required to have software which allows for taking just one image and enhancing both the easy-to-penetrate and difficult-to-penetrate objects on the same image, showing everything with just one touch and highlighting all the threats.

A Millennium Post article published on March 10 had reported that CID is also set to procure two Total Containment Vessel (TCV) on trailer for its Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) units of Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (Durgapur) and Cooch Behar Airport in Bengal. The TCVs are containers mounted on a trailer which are designed to safely secure and transport potentially explosive devices, including bombs. This allows bomb squads to move the device to a controlled location for further evaluation and detonation, minimising the risk of damage to surrounding areas from a potential blast.