Pak terror boat row: Congress asks Manohar Parrikar to introspect

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday asked Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to verify whether there were Pakistani terrorists on the boat that was intercepted by the Coast Guard on December 31 last year off the Porbandar coast.

"If they were not terrorists and were some other people with certain other intentions not essentially terrorist intentions, then of course it does raise a question mark. So, the Defence Minister should introspect. He should verify as to what the truth is," said Tewari.

"If there were indeed Paki(stani) terrorists who were riding in that boat then why we are ashamed of blowing them off. After all, if terrorists were trying to enter the Indian territory through high seas and if the Coast Guard blew them off all the very good," he added.

A fresh controversy has stirred up following an exclusive report in a leading newspaper that quoted Coast Guard Deputy Inspector General (DIG) B.K. Loshali as saying that he was there at Gandhinagar and had ordered officials to 'blow the boat off'. The DIG's statement, as reported by the daily, contradicts the government's earlier claim that the suspected terrorists had set the boat on fire and blew themselves up after being challenged by the Coast Guard.