The Bakistani Terror Boat

The Bakistani Terror Boat 

     The setting hours for a new year 2015 the country was busy preparing for the celebrations but  The Coast Guard of India was in full action mode armed with vital evidence from our intelligence agencies with a “ intruder alarm “ ringing out load. An intruder with a repeat of 26/11 on cards. The vet work of the intelligence agencies proved to be a grand success and the Coast guard intercepted the boat off the Gujarat Coast. The Coast guard following the SOP ordered the boat to be stopped and to be prepared to be boarded. But the Pakistani flagged fishing trawler refused to follow the orders and steered in a hostile move against the orders of the Indian coast guard, trying to evacuate from the EEZ. After hours of drama on the high seas the trawlers crew resorted to firing. The coast guard in response fired upon the trawler ending the chase game. It was just another day for the armed forces safe guarding the nation from hostilities often launched across the border.

   On Dec 31st, Indian Intelligence agencies picked up a suspicious Pakistani flagged fishing trawler was off the coast of Pakistan. Resources under the service of Intelligence agencies reported the activity with the trawler loading unidentified materials and huge stocks of fuels an d departing from the port of KetiBunder, Karachi. With the information received the Indian agencies immediately reported the activity to the top brass. With various other resources confirming of suspicious activity, the Coast guard was immediately summoned to do what they were best at.

ICGS Rajratanwho kills the enemy Boat

Upon being briefed, Indian Coast Guard immediately went into action mode launching  the Indian Made ‘German origin’ “ Dornier Do 228 “ which is an proved platform for Maritime search and Track, flying low the Dornier started the sweeping vast stretches of open sea to identify  the small trawler. After repeated pass by’s, the trawler was spotted steadily making its way towards the Indian coast. The Surveillance party immediately summoned the Central Command centre about the suspicious trawler. IGC in-shore patrol vessel(IPV) Rajratan was charged with the operation to intercept and board the trawler. With the interception successful the ICG IPV immediately ordered the trawler to slow down and be prepared to be boarded upon. But the trawler continued to speed away and started evading the ICG ship. Following the SOP the ICG crew fired the warning shots but the trawler continued evading the ICG ship. The Central command was appraised of the followings and the ICG ship was given a free hand for action. With a certain fate of death awaiting them the jihadists set the board ablaze and the resulting fire engulfed the trawler and the resulting explosions sinking the suspicious trawlers with all the Jihadists taken care of.

 Shortly after the operation GOI reported the success of the operation commending the “ ICG “ and shedding some light towards the operation with some photos.

The nation celebrated the operation’s success and commended the ICG for the safe guarding and the news was aired and the MoD officially reported of the operation and named the trawler to be of Pakistan origin.

But what followed was a series of serious allegation from the Think tanks based out of Delhi accusing the GOI and ICG of running a fake operation. The next 48 hours was covered with various questions regarding the operation. This is my sincere attempt to answer these serious questions which have questioned the very operational manner of our Navy and ICG .

why was the trawler fired upon .?

   The very first point to note is that the trawler was operating in EEZ/Indian territorial waters. Law of the sea states that if intercepted by a “ Military force “ of a nation you are operating in and you are demanded for an investigation the visiting vessel has to follow the orders.  Defying this the Pakistani flagged trawler operating deep within the Indian waters attempted to steer away from the ICG when the orders were made. The ICG immediately sticking to their SOP fired resorted to the warning shots.The intruders firing further orders from the IGC set the trawler upon fire.

  But the very question that needs to be asked to Journalists questioning the integrity of the armed forces is “Why would a fishing trawler supposedly involved in fishing activities evade the IGC ? Why weren’t the orders followed? Why would the ship evade and resort to firing against a warship.

    Its a worldwide practice for all fisherman to follow the orders enforced upon them by the governments. But what was witnessed here was totally opposite. Forced with the responsibility to safe guard the nation out IGC followed the line of action. Ultimately all that matters is the safety of the nation.

How do you know that's a Terror Boat..!

   Armed with the Naval intelligence our Navy has possibly placed informant's all over the world. That backed with the sophisticated satellites its always a possibility to keep eye on suspicious activities. With the intelligence agencies picking up the trawler Karachi the trawler was put under surveillance. The Dornier Do 228 surveillance aircraft pieced the final pieces in the puzzle . And finally the hostility shown by the Trawlers crew simply summed up the motives of the intruders.

Was taking them to custody a option..?

 The consignment of the trawler was not confirmed .The input was only about suspicious activity. So taking them to custody was always a option. The very first action from IGC was to intercept and board the trawler. But the trawler complicated the issue without following the orders. Witnessing hostile action the IGC yet again followed a SOP which mandates any ship getting in close vicinity to a suspicious vessel .


Was the Trawler actually fired upon..?





Initially some reports reported that the ICG fired shots at the trawler thereby hitting the large cache of Ammo aboard the trawler and in turn setting the trawler on fire and sinking it . But ICG has never confirmed about shots being fired upon the trawler.GOI has officially confirmed that the intruders themselves set the trawler on fire fearing action from IGC ships.

This was the first major operation after Parrikar took over MoD. A lot of  controversy was made out of this in India, but nothing was really reported from the across border in Pakistan. These controversies questioned the very integrity of Indian Coast guard

. The top brass of IGC ranging from  IG to the ships commander being put under scanner. Much was made of this by the Media and Think Tanks. This may ultimately change the way our forces take action towards any future hostility. This has surely downed the spirits of our armed forces.

It was the duty of Indian Coast Guard to protect the EEZ and as far as that goes the IGC has performed a great job to the point. I believe them to the last breath and there is no doubt those brave man performed a flawless operation saving a thousand lives back in the country with putting their life’s at stake. Hope there arises no doubts about their operational integrity in the Future.


Jai Hind, Bravo Coast Guard


Editor Karthik Kakoor