Last seen in waters off Diu, fishing vessel was carrying a bogus name; day-long search by navy, coast guard is futile.
A fishing trawler carrying a fictitious name and wrong registration number went missing on Monday morning, sending the navy, coast guard and the marine police of several states, including Maharashtra, on a wild goose chase. The mysterious disappearance of the vessel, which revived fears of a 26/11-type sea-borne attack in the security establishment, was untraced till reports last came in.
The trawler, carrying the name Al Salaam and the registration number of another boat, was spotted moving suspiciously in the sea off Diu around 8.30am. Aerial recce and sea surveillance by the navy, coast guard and marine police forces of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Diu through the day failed to locate it. It is suspected to be a hijacked vessel.
On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists had hijacked the Indian trawler, Kuber, killed its crew and forced its captain to sail to Mumbai.
Near the Mumbai shore, they killed its captain and reached the city using a rubber dinghy and GPS set.
Sources said the number on the boat belongs to Rajmani, which is registered in Veraval, Gujarat. Rajmani was untraceable and there is a possibility of it being hijacked and renamed as Al Salaam, the sources added.
Al Salaam, incidentally, is the name of another Veraval-based fishing trawler, which is out at sea, and is in touch with the marine police. So, the suspicious trawler is not Al Salaam, naval sources said.
The sources said local fishermen from Diu who were out at sea spotted Al Salaam on Monday morning and asked it to stop but it sped away.
The fishermen reported the matter, and the vessel’s name and registration number to their local fishermen society.
According to sources, the coast guard has carried out at least two detailed sorties using its Dornier aircraft.
Naval and coast guard ships are on high alert, and are carrying out regular surveillance in the Arabian Sea.
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