Officials at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Salt Lake?s AF block have expressed concern about security outside their common compound. They have also complained about ?foreign agents? living in shanties nearby.

?We have reasons to believe that the security provided by the state police is not adequate. Unless it is beefed up, mishaps cannot be ruled out. I have written to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee regarding this many times, but nothing has been done,? said Bikash Sinha, director of the institutes.

Security officials at BARC, which houses the only variable energy cyclotron in eastern and northeastern India, are dissatisfied with the attitude of the police.

?We maintain high security on the premises, as research related to national security is conducted at the institute. But a criminal can easily hurl a bomb into the compound, as there is hardly any vigil outside. This, despite the area being a restricted zone,? a security official said.

?We have written to all senior police officers in the state, but almost nothing has been done. There is a ferry ghat within 100 yards of the institute. So, anyone can easily flee after committing a crime,? he added.

Bidhannagar (North) police station looks after the security outside the compound.

The institute authorities have commissioned some sophisticated gadgets, including a superconductivity cyclotron that operates at a very low temperature. ?Helium is needed to obtain the cooling. Hence, there are piles of helium cylinders on the premises. If a bomb is hurled into the compound, a massive explosion can take place,? director Sinha said.

According to BARC officials, a group of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants has set up a shantytown near the institutes.

?We have been informed by security agencies that foreign agents have taken shelter in the shanties. They are trying to sneak out information from the institutes. Work on several projects related to defence and atomic energy is currently underway at the institutes,? said a BARC official.

Police officers of North 24-Parganas denied any laxity on their part. ?We provide optimum security to the area. The institutes had never approached us for a beef-up. The shanties are a civic problem and can only be removed after a nod from the municipality and administration,? said superintendent Praveen Kumar.