Coastline security up after Pakistan terror strike

Following the terrorist attack on a naval base in Pakistan last week, a high alert has been sounded and security beefed along India’s coastline. Maritime security forces have been round-the-clock vigil since then. The deployment of offshore patrol vessels, near the coastline and also in the high seas, has been increased along Maharashtra’s coastline, though there is no specific alert about an  attack. The situation in  the state has been tense since Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Abbottabad in Pakistan.

The state’s 720-km coastline is under the surveillance of the police and the coast guard. The district police have been asked to keep a check on isolated areas near the coast. Small fishing boats and merchant vessels approaching the coastline are also being checked. Security checks at manned and unmanned landing points have been increased.

A senior coast guard officer said: “Security vigils are always in place. Patrolling of the coastline is being done regularly following the attack on the Pakistan naval base last week. The vigil has been intensified as preventive action so that no untoward incident takes place.”

Last week, around a dozen militants attacked the Mehran naval station in Karachi in Pakistan, blowing up the sophisticated surveillance aircraft and killing 10 Pakistani military personnel.
A huge number of navy and coast guard ships have been deployed in the seas. Other than the vigil being kept by the ships and patrolling done by state agencies like the marine police wing of the district police, regular sorties are being conducted by naval and Dornier aircraft during the day as well as at night.