THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Coast Guard officials apprehended a suspicious foreign vessel 100 km west of Alappuzha, arrested its 12 member crew and brought them for interrogation to Vizhinjam on Sunday.
Though the crew claimed to be Iranian nationals, Pakistani identity cards and currency notes were found on the boat. Apart from this, a Thuraya communication satellite which is banned in several countries was found on the ship. Some in the crew are believed to be from Balochistan.
Based on inputs from central agencies, the city police had alerted the Coast Guard about the movement of a suspicious fishing trawler on the high seas.
The vessel named Barooki was suspected of engaging in the transfer of high value contraband.
Further, a Dornier aircraft was despatched for surveillance from Kochi and Coast Guard Ships Samar and Abhinav sailed to the spot at maximum speed.
“The ships followed the vessel throughout the night remaining out of visual range to avoid detection by the suspect boat. Before the break of dawn on Saturday, the Coast Guard boarding team of ICGS Samar boarded the suspected vessel,” the Coast Guard said in an official release.
The apprehended boat along with its crew was escorted to Vizhinjam harbour. Joint interrogation by the Intelligence Bureau, State IB, Local Poilce, Scientific experts, bomb disposal Squad etc followed.
The crew claimed that they had departed from Kalat, Iran on May 25 and had been lost at sea for some days after the engines seized. “The city police has recommended an NIA inquiry into the ship as frequent follow-ups with the other countries are involved in the inquiry,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Sanjaykumar Gurudin.
