Daijiworld Media Network
Mumbai, Aug 5: After the 26/11 attacks, the city's coast guards have been on alert to note any suspicious activity along the coast line. However, there appears to be a slight breach in the security as a vessel M V Pavit had ventured into the Indian waters without being detected by either the Navy or the Coast Guard.
The Mumbai police said that they were first warned about an unidentified ship floating close to the city's coastline recently. But the coast guard's were clueless about it until they were alerted the next morning.
Sources say that a hotel manager had spotted the vessel cruising in through his binoculours. An officer from the Santa Cruz police station responded to his call and visited Juhu beach to verify the claim. But the vessel was nowhere to be spotted. The inspector did not pass on the warning to the Coast Guard. The M V Pavit, however, slowly continued to move closer to the city at night.
The next morning, M V Pavit was again spotted but this time by fishermen. Doubting its aimless movement, they informed The Sea Guardian, an NGO set up to prevent mishaps at sea, rushed to the spot. Using high-powered binoculars they confirmed the ship's movement towards the shore.
When Pavit's course did not change for half an hour, the NGO alerted the Juhu police station. Even after 15 policemen reached the Juhu-Versova beach, the Coast Guard was not informed.
Around 8.30 am the Coat Guard was informed about the ship. But they insisted that the information be faxed to them. The coastal police station had no fax machine. By then M V Pavit ran around off the beach.
To add to this terror scare, a fisherman reported seeing five individuals handling some plastic on the shore. However, when it rained they ran for shelter. As the fisherman looked towards the sea he saw M V Pavit. He then concluded that a group of terrorists used a dinghy to land on shore from the vessel. The plastic, he feared was the shredded dinghy. Once the police investigated into the claim, it was realized that the group of men were just a patrolling party.
In June itself two such incidents were reported. A Singapore flagged vessel M V Wisdom had grounded off Juhu Beach. What's worse is that 61 pirates were arrested off Lakshadweep.
In May the Indian Navy sank a pirate mother ship in the Arabian Sea. In the same month, 32 Somali pirates were arrested in Gujarat. Their vessel had sailed undetected to the coast where it sank in rough seas.