Iranian fishing trawler, 12 suspects detained in Kerala

The Indian Coast Guard has detained 12 Iranians and a suspicious fishing trawler after intercepting it around 100 kilometres west of Alleppey in Kerala.

"The Indian Coast Guard had received an input through Kerala State Police, Thiruvananthapuram regarding movement of a suspicious fishing trawler. The vessel was likely to be involved in transfer of high value contraband at high seas," read a statement released by the Coast Guard.

A Dornier aircraft was launched for surveillance sorties. Thereafter, Coast Guard Ships Samar and Abhinav were also sailed from Kochi at maximum speed. At the midnight of Saturday the suspicious boat 'Barooki' was spotted. "The ships followed the vessel throughout the night remaining out of visual range to avoid detection by the suspect boat," mentioned the statement. It is only during the break of dawn the suspicious fishing trawler was intercepted by the two Coast Guard vessels.

"The boat along with 12 crew had departed Kalat in Iran on May 25. The detailed investigation by the boarding party revealed that the position, features and crew details are matching with the intelligence inputs provided by the Kerala Police," said an officer.

One Thuraya communication set and a Pakistani identity card was found on board 'Barooki'. The boat was later taken to Vizhinjam Harbour. Joint interrogation by the Intelligence Bureau, state intelligence bureau, local police, scientific experts, bomb disposal squad, etc is in progress.