Interpol 'Blue Corner' notice issued in Iranian boat case

Nearly two months after an Iranian boat with suspicious movement was seized off the Kerala coast, India has moved Interpol to seek details from Iran about the 12 people on board the vessel and secured a 'Blue Corner' notice in this regard.
The 'Blue Corner' notice is issued from one country to the another for "collecting additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime."
Official sources said the request by National Investigation Agency (NIA) had been forwarded to Iran through the Interpol Headquarters in Lyon in France for sharing all the details about the 12 people who were on board the boat that had strayed 93 kms deep into Indian waters last month.

The Indian Coast Guard had intercepted the boat on July 3 from the Exclusive Economic Zone of India off the Kerala Coast.
NIA was handed over the case on August 4 but it could not even interrogate the 12 people who are in jail, the sources said.
The investigating agency had to carry out its probe on the findings of Kerala Police, which had the custody of the accused for 14 days.

NIA re-registered a case filed by the Kerala Police under various sections of Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act and Suppression of Unlawful Acts against safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002.

The sources said the NIA wants to know more about the people who were on board the fishing trawler 'Barooqi' as a couple of them are well-versed in Hindi language and one is an Iranian resident born in Pakistan.
The trawler had all the material used in deep sea fishing of Tuna fish. One of the engines of the fishing trawler had broken down but there was no explanation why it had strayed so deep into the Indian waters.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy here has sought consular access to those arrested and it has been provided, the sources said. The Iranian side has assured complete cooperation in the matter.