Coast Guard officials intercepted a fishing trawler from Porbandar, Kuber, five nautical miles away from Mumbai’s shoreline. The ship had been missing since November 13 on the high seas and is suspected to have been hijacked by the terrorists who struck Mumbai on Wednesday. A GPS map of south Mumbai was found along with a satellite phone on the ship, coast guard officials confirmed. There were reports that the phone was used to make calls to Karachi immediately before the shootings began in Mumbai. They propose to hand the ship over to the Mumbai police soon. Food packets were also found on Kuber. Coast Guard officials said the owner, Vinod Masani, was detained by the Porbandar police on Thursday. “We want to find out if the occupants of Kuber did the job for terrorists for a fee or whether it was hijacked,’’ said a senior coast guard officer. Earlier in the day, the coast guard, the Indian navy, the marine wing of the Mumbai police and customs jointly launched a combing operation and detained two ships with the same name, M V Alfa, in the sea off Mumbai. The city police early Thursday morning found three inflatable boats deserted by the terrorists at Colaba, Cuffe Parade and Chowpatty. The international maritime border has also been sealed by the navy and coast guard ships. Coast Guard inspector general (western region) Rajendra Singh said three helicopters, two Dorniers, three large ships and two smaller vessels were involved in the search operation. But the navy and coast guard helicopters were also told to be careful as there is a possibility of the terrorists carrying rocket launchers. A navy spokesperson in Mumbai said a search of the MV Alfa, which had been detained off the Mumbai coast, did not reveal anything suspicious. But the coast guard detained another vessel with the same name, Alfa, with 21 Ukrainians in the high seas on Thursday evening. “We are interrogating them and will bring the vessel to Mumbai on Friday morning as it is becoming difficult to get the vessel to Mumbai at night,’’ said a coast guard official. The officer said that there were five people aboard the Kuber, a fishing trawler intercepted at Porbander. But when the coast guard chopper patrolling the sea found it, they found a bullet-ridden body of a tandel (sailor) Amarsingh Narayan in it. This vessel was used by terrorists to reach Mumbai, it is suspected. Meanwhile, fishermen in Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade said a group of eight terrorists arrived by sea off Badhwar Park in Colaba in geminicraft (inflatable boat) with a 20 HP engine at about 9 pm on Wednesday. A police officer from Cuffe Parade police station said fishermen near the jetty got suspicious when the group deserted the boat and headed towards the road. “When the fishermen stopped them, they said, ‘humko tension hai’ and pointed their weapons,’’ said the police officer. Another official from Cuffe Parade police station said, “The fishermen told us they were about 10 to 12 men. They split into two groups—one went towards CST and other group towards Colaba.” He also said, “ The engine and chasiss number of the Yamaha motor engine that was used for the boat has been scrapped so as to make it difficult for law enforcing agencies to trace the place of purchase.’’ A former police sleuth, not wishing to be identified, revealed that the fishermen had also called the police, but they came in much later. The boat was then brought to Cuffe Parade police station. Eight life jackets and the engine were also seized. However, custom sources said the joint sea patrolling between customs, navy and the Coast Guard has been a massive failure. “The irony is that there was a coastal surveillance committee of customs, which had met recently,’’ said a source. It’s recommendations have remained on paper. The three agencies patrol up to 12 nautical miles from the shore.
In Operation Trident in 1971, the Indian Navy had carried out a stunning attack on the Karachi port under the stealth of night. The act had shocked the world with its audacity; so has the meticulously planned terrorist attack in Mumbai. But is an attack from Karachi feasible? “Definitely. We did it in 1971. We punched them in the guts and drove the wind out of their war effort. They didn’t know we were there until we said ‘hello’. Sadly, we forgot our own history. This is sheer intelligence failure,” said commander (retired) Prakash Panda, who served two tours with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).
In Operation Trident in 1971, the Indian Navy had carried out a stunning attack on the Karachi port under the stealth of night. The act had shocked the world with its audacity; so has the meticulously planned terrorist attack in Mumbai. But is an attack from Karachi feasible? “Definitely. We did it in 1971. We punched them in the guts and drove the wind out of their war effort. They didn’t know we were there until we said ‘hello’. Sadly, we forgot our own history. This is sheer intelligence failure,” said commander (retired) Prakash Panda, who served two tours with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).
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