Vigil heightened in Gujarat coast and border after Pak boat incident

Media reports in Pakistan quoted Foreign Office Spokesman Tasneem Aslam ruling out that any boat from Keti Bunder has gone to the open sea.

An NDTV report on Saturday quoting Coast Guard Inspector General Kuldeep Singh Sheoran said: ."The entire Gujarat Coast is under surveillance, six-seven aircraft are continuously monitoring it and we are also vigilant," 

He also said that authorities were  searching the boat but nothing had been found so far.

Border Security Force (BSF) along with the Gujarat Police were also maintaining high vigil along the international border after the incident.

According to the  Defence Ministry,  as per intelligence inputs received on  the new year's eve,  a fishing boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi was planning some illicit transaction in Arabian sea. Based on the input, coast guard dornier aircraft undertook sea - air coordinated search and located the suspect fishing boat. Thereafter, the coast guard ship on patrol in area was diverted and intercepted the unlit boat at about midnight of  December 31.

The coast guard ship warned the fishing boat to stop for further investigation of the crew and cargo; however, the boat  tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary. After a long pursuit, the coast guard ship fired warning shots at the boat. Four persons were seen on the boat who disregarded all the warnings. Soon thereafter, the crew hid themselves in below deck compartment and set the boat on fire, which resulted in explosion and major fire on the boat.