New Delhi, April 23: The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has installed “sight cutters” at the Digboi refinery to deflect any rocket-propelled grenades that may be fired at it.

The measure is part of the attempt to beef up security at the refinery, undertaken on the advice of the army. A senior IOC official told The Telegraph that “the sight cutters will serve as an umbrella to shield the refinery” against the kind of grenade attack that the Ulfa militants had launched in March.

He said the army had intensified patrolling in the outer periphery while the police have stepped up vigilance in the inner ring of the refinery. Sources said several quarters of IOC staff in the township close to the refinery had been vacated and converted into police barracks.

They added that additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Assam police personnel had been deployed immediately after the incident. IOC has reportedly appealed to the state government to deploy 65 more police personnel to tighten security even further.

The refinery lighting has also been improved keeping the security angle in mind. Powerful searchlights have been installed at the outer perimeter, which face outwards and illuminate the area well beyond the boundary wall. Senior IOC officials are reported to be in close touch with the army top brass who are dealing with counter-insurgency operations as part of the unified command.

The rocket-propelled grenade lobbed at Digboi refinery by the Ulfa on March 7 had blasted a huge storage tank containing 4,500 kiloliters of petrol.

Sources said IOC would pick up an insurance claim of about Rs 15 crore for the damage suffered by the company in the terrorist attack.

The senior IOC official said the insurance claim had been filed with the United Insurance and the payment is expected to come through soon. “Most of the IOC installations are, in fact, insured,” he added.

Though there have been attacks on IOC pipelines in Assam earlier, this is the first instance of a direct attack on a refinery. Since the pipelines run through long distances in remote areas, they are more vulnerable to attacks than the heavily-guarded refineries.

However, it remains to be seen whether the incident will result in a hike in the insurance premium of oil installations in the state. IOC is a major client of the insurance companies and, therefore, can to some extent dictate terms.

The oil major is likely to cite the beefed-up security arrangements in support of its argument against any proposed hike in insurance premium.