United News Of India
New Delhi, Jan 2: The Indian Coast Guard foiled a major terror attack, similar to the 26/11 Mumbai strike, when a boat laden with explosives was neutralised, killing four suspected ultras on board.
The midnight operation was carried out just at the beginning of the new year. The defence ministry Friday said the boat was blown up in the Arabian Sea near the Indo-Pak maritime boundary, approximately 365 km from Porbander, in Gujarat.
An operation was conducted on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 by Indian Coast Guard ships and aircraft to intercept a suspect fishing boat in the Arabian Sea near the Indo-Pak maritime boundary, according to a statement issued by the ministry.A fishing boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi was planning some “illicit transaction” in the Arabian Sea, according to the intelligence inputs received on December 31.
Coast Guard Dornier aircraft undertook a sea-air coordinated search and located the suspect fishing boat. The Coast Guard ship on patrol in the area intercepted the unlit boat at midnight of December 31, 365 km west-south west of Porbandar.
However, the boat tried to escape. After a hot pursuit for nearly one hour, the Coast Guard ship managed to stop the fishing boat after firing warning shots.
Soon thereafter, the crew hid themselves below the deck compartment and set the boat on fire, which resulted in an explosion and major fire on the boat. The boat burnt and sank in the same position, in the early hours of January 1. Coast Guard ships and aircraft are continuing operations in area to search for any possible survivor.
Coast Guard and other security agencies are maintaining high vigil in maritime and coastal areas since last couple of months due to several inputs on threat from the sea.
