CG brings suspicious boat to Port Blair for investigation

 The suspicious boat with 11 Myanmarese crew, apprehended by Coast Guard near Narcondum Island, has been brought here and handed over to the police for further investigation, officials said today.

On its arrival here yesterday, Coast Guard Inspector General Kuldeep Singh Sheoran, inspected the vessel and appreciated the efforts and alertness of the Coast Guard personnel involved in the operation.

Later, a police team from Central Crime station, Port Blair took the boat and crew in its custody for joint interrogation by security agencies.

The boat was intercepted under suspicious circumstances by Coast Guard patrol ships 'Bhikaji Cama' and 'Rajkamal' in the Andaman Sea, nine nautical miles east of the Narcondum Island on the intervening night of Monday-Tuesday.

On being challenged by Coast Guard patrol ships, the boat started fleeing and crew was seen dumping some items into the sea. The boat surrendered only after Coast Guard ships fired warning shots, after a chase of about two hours.

While inspecting the boat, the Coast Guard found the boat did not have any name or registration number written on hull nor did it carry any country's flag on it, a statement issued by the Coast Guard had said.

A large quantity of fuel and water was found stored in 40-50 drums and large number of used clothes of men and women were also found which is unusual for such boats.

VHF communication sets were also found hidden in engine room of the boat.
None of the crew members were having passport and no fishing gears or cargo was found onboard. The master and crew could not explain what they were doing in Indian waters and why they tried to run away from Coast Guard and what did they throw into the sea.

There have been several instances, when vessels involved in human trafficking and arms smuggling were apprehended by Coast Guard in Andaman Sea.