How Coast Guard acted on Intel

New Delhi: A top government source said it all began around 9 am on December 31, after the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) issued an intelligence alert to the ICG that a suspicious Pakistani fishing boat from Karachi was headed towards India. The conversations between the crew and their handlers in Pakistan were intercepted and intelligence authorities suspected a terror strike was being planned.

With the NTRO providing the exact coordinates of the trawler, the ICG scrambled a Dornier plane at 11 am to locate it. The Dornier captain was categorically asked not to fly too low as it would have alerted the crew. The plane spotted the boat at the exact location given by the NTRO. It undertook a second sortie at 2 pm and found that the rogue boat was still sailing towards India. The aircraft was launched for the third time at 5.30 pm. It found no change in the boat's course. By now, the ICG was clear that the Pakistani vessel was up to some serious mischief-- a terror strike or a suicide attack on an Indian warship. It immediately ordered two warships patrolling the area to intercept the boat and interrogate the crew. ICG's in-shore patrol vessel Rajratan made contact with the boat around 11 pm.

The warship warned the unlit vessel to stop for investigation but it swiftly changed course and attempted to speed away, taking advantage of the “darkness, bad weather and strong winds". This led to a hot pursuit that lasted for more than an hour before the four-man crew hid below the deck and exploded the boat.