Intercepted by Coast Guard, crew of boat carrying explosives blast their vessel off Porbandar
A possible 26/11-type terror attack from sea was averted when the crew of a boat carrying explosives blew it up off Porbandar, Gujarat on Thursday morning after a Coast Guard ship intercepted it and asked those on board to identify themselves. The four suspected terrorists drowned with the boat. The boat coming from Keti Bunder near Karachi was tracked by Coast Guard aircraft and ships after receiving specific Intelligence inputs.
The operation began on December 31 when Intelligence agencies tipped off the Coast Guard to intercept the suspected fishing boat planning some “illicit transaction in the Arabian Sea” after setting sail from Karachi. Two Dornier reconnaissance aircraft of the force spotted the boat eight km inside India’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). A Coast Guard patrol vessel Rajratan was then directed to interdict the boat.
The unlit 15-metre-long fishing boat was finally intercepted at midnight about 365 km (197 nautical miles) south-west off Porbandar. The Coast Guard ship warned the fishing boat to stop for identification and investigation of the boat and crew, Defence Ministry officials said here on Friday. However, the boat did not pay heed and started speeding to escape from the Indian side of the maritime boundary. After more than an hour-long pursuit, the Coast Guard ship managed to force the boat to stop by firing warning shots.
Officials said four men who were seen on the deck disregarded the warning shots and hid below deck. Before the Coast Guard could take measures to nab them, the crew set the boat on fire leading to a massive explosion. The nature of the fire and the blasts clearly indicated that the vessel was ferrying explosives, officials said.
Due to the darkness, bad weather and strong winds, the boat and crew could not be saved or recovered, they said adding the vessel burnt and sank in the same position in the early hours of Thursday morning at about four am. Coast Guard ships and aircraft were searching for any possible survivors, officials said.
Asked about the boat, officials said it was bigger than normal fishing boats. However, unlike fishing boats which generally do not enter Indian waters, this vessel was inside Indian waters when intercepted. Moreover, fishermen do not try to escape if they inadvertently enter the maritime boundary, officials added.
The Coast Guard and other security agencies are maintaining high vigil in maritime and coastal areas for the last couple of months due to several inputs on terrorist attacks from the sea. Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan last month had expressed concern that terrorists could hijack a Pakistani warship and ram it into Indian Navy ships in a fidayeen attack. This warning came after some Taliban militants tried to hijack a Pakistani frigate in Karachi harbour in September last year in a bid to slam it into a US Navy ship.
Officials did not rule out the possibility of a terror attack on some vital installations in Porbandar and adjacent areas if the explosive-laden boat had managed to dock there undetected. Investigations were now on to unravel the mystery, while the Coast Guard was trying to salvage the boat as equipment on board it could help establish the motive.
Meanwhile, India on Friday accused Pakistan of trying to push terrorists into Jammu & Kashmir and giving cover to such attempts by continuous firing along the border. “No doubt about that,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters here when asked whether the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were to cover infiltration attempts by militants.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar complimented the Coast Guard and those involved in the operation for intercepting the “rogue vessel” in a “timely and precise manner, thereby avoiding a possible danger”. Though the full details of the incident were not immediately available, there was some speculation that the vessel was either engaged in smuggling or was on course to carry a sinister 26/11-type mission. The speculation also focused on whether the diesel tank of the vessel caught fire during the operation and led to its destruction.