NEW DELHI-
Claims by the Indian Defence Ministry that the crew of a Pakistani fishing boat, carrying explosives, blew up and sank their vessel after trying to evade capture at the hands of the Indian navy in a high-speed chase at sea, were disputed by Indian daily Indian Express on Saturday.
According to a report by the paper, emerging evidence points that those on-board might have been ‘small-time liquor and diesel smugglers, ferrying bootleg cargo from the port of Gwadar to other fishing boats which would have carried it to Keti Bandar harbour in Karachi.’
There is also a suggestion of use of disproportionate force since the fishing boat did not have an engine capable of outrunning Indian interceptors, added that report.
The Indian Defence Minister in a statement said the suspicious vessel came from Keti Bandar near Karachi on the night between December 31, 2014 and January 01, 2015.
According to the statement, Indian authorities, on intelligence reports, launched an operation near Pak-India sea border in which Indian Coast Guard ships and aircraft participated.The Coast Guard tried to stop the suspicious vessel 350 KMs away from the Indian coast.
“However, the boat increased speed and tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary. The hot pursuit continued for nearly one hour,” the defence ministry statement added.
Although the boat did eventually stop after warning shots were fired, the four-man crew then hid themselves below deck before setting the boat on fire which triggered a large explosion.
Although the defence ministry would only say that the crew were planning “some illicit transaction”, it a had also stated that the boat was carrying explosives.