Boat row: Indian Navy rejects reports about not acting on intelligence given by NTRO

The Indian Navy on Tuesday dismissed media reports that it had not reacted to the intelligence provided by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).

An official release from the Ministry of Defence said the Navy, being the nodal agency for the overall maritime security of the country, was kept in the loop throughout the operation.

The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy responded appropriately to the situation as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

The Coast Guard had on the night of 31st December intercepted a Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast. AIR correspondent reports that NTRO was reportedly tracking the boat right after it left Karachi and later notified the Coast Guard about it.

On Friday, a possible terror attack was averted when a suspicious fishing boat carrying explosives in the Arabian Sea was intercepted near the India- Pakistan maritime boundary, approximately 365 kilometres away from Porbander.

The four persons on board disregarded warning shots from the Coast Guard and tried to hide themselves in the lower deck of the vessel; thereafter they set the boat on fire, which resulted in an explosion.

Ultimately, the boat burnt and sank in the early hours of January 1, including all the people on board who could not be saved or recovered.