When Coast Guard ship Samudra Pavak apprehended a Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast Sunday. Photo: ANI via TwitterAhmedabad: Amid heightened vigil, a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast on Sunday morning by the Indian Coast Guard.
Coast Guard Ship 'Samudra Pavak' apprehended the Pakistani boat having nine crew members on board at around 10.15 AM on Sunday off Gujarat coast during patrolling, according to a defense ministry statement.
Preliminary information indicated the people on board were Pakistani fishermen. However, "the boat and the crew members are being escorted to Porbandar for further investigation," the release said.
The apprehension of the Pakistani boat comes days after the Indian Army conducted surgical strike across LoC, following which a high alert has been sounded across the land and sea border with the neighbouring country.
Earlier on Friday, the Coast Guard had said that sensitive sea areas off Gujarat coast have been "sanitized" and surveillance enhanced following India's surgical strike on terror launch pads across the LoC.
The Coast Guard had also advised the fishing community and other stakeholders to maintain enhanced vigil and report any abnormal activity either at sea or in areas close to the coast.
Pakistani maritime authorities had recently apprehended six Indian fishermen and seized their boat in the Arabian sea off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district.
Around 465 fishermen, mostly from Gujarat, are languishing in Pakistan jails, according to fishermen association in India.
Indian and Pakistani coastal security agencies often capture fishing boats for crossing the poorly-defined maritime border into each others' territory.
(With agency inputs)
