Pakistan boat explosion: Wireless intercepts under scrutiny as Coast guard ship returns

Gandhinagar : Even as the patrol ship involved in the destruction of a Pakistani fishing boat on New Year’s Eve pulled into dock on Saturday, carrying evidence that investigators believe could resolve the growing controversy over the sinking, the  Ministry of Defence is preparing for a full internal review of the intercepted satellite-phone communications that led up to the operation, official sources have told The Sunday Express.

The investigation, the sources said, is intended to address the growing controversy over whether the destroyed fishing boat was carrying explosives, and whether it had any connections with terrorist groups.

Footage from cameras on board the ICG Rajratan, which arrived at the Coast Guard station in Porbandar late in the evening, as well as audiotapes of satellite conversations between its crew and their ground station, are expected to provide a minute-by-minute of precisely what happened during the operation.

Local residents at Porbandar harbour told The Sunday Express they had seen what appeared to be debris being unloaded from the Rajratan. It was unclear, however, whether the debris was from the destroyed fishing  boat.

K S Sheoran, Inspector-General, North-West, of the Coast Guard, said that neither material evidence nor bodies of the crew had been recovered so far, because of poor weather. Sheoran, however, added that he was optimistic clues would be found.

The Coast Guard, Gujarat Police sources said, did not immediately provide either its officers or a visiting mid-level official from the Rajkot office of the Intelligence Bureau, access to the ship.

In Islamabad, Pakistani officials described India’s claims as a hoax, saying they had no information to suggest a boat had been destroyed.
Saeed Baloch, head of the Karachi-based Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, said “no fishing crews or boats are missing from Keti Bandar”, the port the Indian government has said the destroyed vessel originated from.

“We’re trying to establish if any crews are missing from elsewhere”, he said, “but it will take time, because thousands of vessels are at sea at any given time.”

“Especially if this boat was involved in smuggling or some such activity”, he said, “their families wouldn’t be expecting them back immediately, and certainly wouldn’t report them missing to the unions or authorities.”

Forensic studies of the debris could establish whether there were explosives on board, and how the fire that destroyed the fishing boat began. In a press release issued on Friday, the Ministry of Defence had said that the boat’s four crew started the fire. The press release also suggested the boat was carrying explosives.

However, forensic experts contacted by The Sunday Express noted that photographs of the burning boat showed its structure was intact, a fact inconsistent with the explosions burning munitions would normally set off. The flames also showed no signs of the white plumes characteristically associated with fires involving explosives.