Karthik's musings

KSCA's explosive "detection device" exposed

Last week, while a Champions League match was about to begin, an explosive device detection equipment went-off, triggering an alarm, and subsequently a controversy over the perceived targetting of Kashmiris.

In the middle of the uproar over the "targetting" of the Kasmiri cricketer, another interesting aspect is been forgotten. It is the effectiveness of the Advanced Detection Equipment device that was used on that day.

As per this Hindu article, KSCA had procured the device from a Hyderabad-based company called Brio Macro Security Services Private Limited. The original manufacturer of the device is a U.K.-based company called ATSC Limited.

Here begins the interesting, darker side of the story. As per several online forums, these explosive detection equipments are a big hoax, perpetrated on the thrid world countries by some western companies. And their USP: Kick-backs.
Some of the online forums that have called the bluff of ATSC are:
http://www.skeptics.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=55880
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/231-a-direct-specific-challenge-from-james-randi-and-the-jref.html

The JREF organization even went to the extent of challenging ATSC with an offer of a million dollars in case they could prove the effectiveness of the device! And ATSC's response? Take the company's web-site offline! Which may as well be, considering that ATSC's explanation of the principle of working of the device ranges from "Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance" to "Electro Magnetic Attraction".

ATSC has a silly video of the equipment "used" in Thailand (ah! where else!) in youtube.

Another company similar to ATSC is Sniffex. But their lie was nailed, and US SEC has also given a ruling against them.

A simple search in Google gives links to several more stories about ATSC and some of their ilk.

Now, do we have skeletons waiting to tumble out of KSCA's cupboard?