Panic near Bandra-Worli sea link

The movement of a tourist ferry close to the vital Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) sparked panic on Thursday. In what could be seen as a serious security lapse, the Mumbai police took note of the vessel only a day after it was seen drifting near the BWSL by local residents at Mahim beach.

On Thursday evening, fishermen and locals from Mahim Chowpatty were shocked to spot a vessel drifting towards the BWSL. The locals then made frantic calls to the police control room to inform them about the suspicious activity. However, the vessel was still floating near BWSL on Friday.

On Friday, when DNA contacted the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Mumbai Coastal Police at Mahim, neither of the two agencies were aware about the vessel aand its proximity to BWSL.

"We learnt about the vessel on Friday night, and will check if it has the required permissions to anchor near BWSL Adequate action will be taken if they have flouted norms," said an ICG Spokesperson.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Port Zone, Sunita Salunke-Thackeray said, "On Friday, personnel cordoned the boat and checked it. We did not find anything suspicious inside. It is a foreign vessel that had arrived with tourists at the floating hotel near BWSL."

An officer from the Coastal police station I said, "The boat has come from Goa, and ferries passengers from a larger tourist ship that is currently anchored in Goa."

The Mumbai police on Wednesday had revealed that the city police had earlier received an alert from the Coast Guard warning of the infiltration of Islamic State (IS) suspects into the city via the sea route, and that the file 'had been closed'.