An anti-piracy combing operation in the eastern Arabian Sea resulted in detaining 19 foreigners on a dhow about 180 miles west of the Lakshadweep islands in the exclusive economic zone (EES). Of the 19, as many as 15 are suspected to be Pakistanis, defence sources in New Delhi said. The remaining four could be Iranians. Defence sources said the detained foreigners could have been engaged in illegal poaching, but the Navy is taking no chances, given that the Mumbai terror attack of 2008 was carried out by Pakistani terrorists who had entered Mumbai through the sea-route.
“At around 2 pm on December 3, INS Rajput, a missile destroyer of the Indian Navy on anti-piracy combing operations in the eastern Arabian Sea, apprehended a suspicious dhow in the EES west of Bitra Island in the Lakshadweep islands,” said Captain Manohar Nambiar, chief public relations officer, defence, Mumbai. “Currently, the dhow, with 19 foreigners on board, is being escorted to Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep Islands to be handed over to the police,” Commander Roy Francis, public relations officer, defence, Kochi, said. In the wake of the detention, the Navy will continue to deploy additional ships and its aircraft to carry out anti-piracy sanitisation in the area.