MV Kuber opens can of worms

MV Kuber, the boat that ferried 10 terrorists, had set off on its second trip immediately after offloading the fish and refuelling itself on November 13.

The records registered by the customs authorities in Porbandar revealed that the boat (custom creek pass no. ch/pbr/174, dated August 16, 2008 and valid till December 31, 2008) ventured out of the port on October 30. It returned to the port after 13 days carrying approximately 1,000 kg of fish. “After its arrival on November 13 at 2 pm, the boat immediately offloaded the fish, refuelled and left at 10 pm. But when we caught it on November 27, it was carrying only 50 kg of fish,” said a top coast guard official not wanting to be named.

This development has raised several questions. “Where was the boat from November 14 to 26? As per the speed of the boat and the GPS mappings found on it, it can reach Mumbai from Karachi in approximately 3 to 4 days. (Distance according to two sets of mappings varied between 1,052 km (569 nautical miles) to 1,017 km (550 nautical miles). This means there is a possibility that the boat was hijacked midway around November 20,” he said.

The officer informed that a massive combing operation has been launched to track the four sailors who are missing from the boat. “Along with Captain AN Solanki, Dhiru Arjan, a native of Una, Balwant Prabhu and Natu Nanu from Navsari, and Ramesh Nagji from Junagadh were also on the boat and are now missing. Coast Guards, along with the Navy, are searching for them,” said the official.