Pak groups may use captured Indian boats for more strikes

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan having captured more than 600 Indian fishing boats and trawlers over a long period of time, India is worried that these vessels may be used to carry out more terror attacks on its soil and leave the maritime law-enforcing agencies flummoxed.

"Pakistani terrorists used an Indian fishing boat to sneak into Mumbai to execute their terror plans. With so many Indian boats with them, they can send a fleet to carry out more strikes against Indian maritime and shore-based assets," A Home Ministry source told PTI here today.

And these boats would raise no suspicion due to their Indian origin, it said. Since 2003, the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has captured more than 600 Indian fishing boats and a large number of fishermen in the Pakistani territorial waters and has not returned the vessels to India.

"After relations between the two countries started improving, fishermen were allowed to go back through diplomatic channels, but the captured boats are never returned," the source said. Agencies have received inputs about the PMSA and other "suspicious" elements along with Pakistani fishermen using boats from the captured fleet to enter Indian waters.

"We knew that these boats were being used by Pakistani fishermen only to enter our waters. But later, we found that they were being used by PMSA and the suspicious elements to carry out reconnaissance of Indian coastal areas. These boats could provide a good platform to enter Indian waters without raising any suspicion," the source said.