Kasargod: Suspicious Vessel Gets Away Due to Low Fuel in Police Boat!
Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (RD)
Kasargod, Feb 24: An unidentified, suspicious vessel was spotted in the Arabian Sea along the shore here on Thursday February 23.
However, when the officers ventured into the sea, there was no sign of it. The local fishermen spotted the vessel and reported the matter to the Coast Guard police. But the delay by the Coast Guard personnel in taking immediate action made it impossible to trace the vessel, it is said.
The Coast Guard boats could not be pressed into service as they were running low on fuel. By the time refueling was done and the search began, it was too late. Efforts to seek information from Mangalore and Ezhimala also went in vain.
The officers initially assumed that the vessel belonged to the Ezhimala Naval Academy. However, the officials at the Academy confirmed that it did not belong to them.
It is now suspected that the vessel may have belonged to pirates, terrorists, or smugglers moving along the west coast. The union home ministry and intelligence agencies had already alerted the coastal states on the possibilities of terrorists or smugglers reaching the shores. It is rather a regrettable incident that the vessel got away due to insufficient fuel in the Coast Guard boat.
Pic for display purpose only, and has no bearing with the incident reported.