A Pakistani fishing boat that was intercepted by India’s Coast Guard on the night of Dec. 31, and which, the Indian defense ministry said had blown itself up, a news report by the Indian Express claimed that it may have been deliberately blown up by the Indian Coast Guard.
According to The Indian Express newspaper on Wednesday claimed that a senior Coast Guard official as saying that he had ordered the boat to be blown up.
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The latest comments have been attributed to B K Loshali, a deputy inspector general of the Coast Guard, who was reportedly speaking in the presence of other officers of the agency. The newspaper said his comments were recorded.
“Let me tell you,” the Indian Express cited Loshali as saying, “I hope you remember 31st December night… we blew off that Pakistan… We have blown them off… I was there at Gandhinagar and I told at night, blow the boat off. We don’t want to serve them biryani…”
The vessel with four people on board sank after an explosion triggered by a fire below deck, the Coast Guard said in a statement released on Jan. 2.
According to the Coast Guard, the boat, which was believed to be from the port of Keti Bandar in western Pakistan’s Sindh province, was intercepted about 220 miles from the port city of Porbandar in Gujarat state in western India.
“The Coast Guard ship warned the fishing boat to stop for further investigation of the crew and cargo; however, the boat increased speed and tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary … the Coast Guard ship managed to stop the fishing boat after firing warning shots,” the coast guard said in the statement. “Four persons were seen on the boat who disregarded all warnings by the Coast Guard ship to stop and cooperate with investigation. Soon thereafter, the crew hid themselves in below deck compartment and set the boat on fire, which resulted in explosion and major fire on the boat.”
The Indian defense ministry has not yet reacted to the newspaper report.
In an unrelated development, the Indian government has cleared the construction of seven stealth frigates and six nuclear powered submarines, the Times of India reported. This is likely to cost India about 1 trillion rupees, or upwards of $16 billion, the report said.
