28 Nov : The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have caught the ‘mothership’ called MV Alpha, 112 km from Mumbai, that reportedly smuggled the terrorists in Mumbai from Karachi.
A CG spokesman said that searches were being carried out on board the ship but declined to elaborate."The Naval and Coast Guards ships have since Thursday morning intercepted and checked antecedents of all the vessels operating or moored around the metropolis," Vice-admiral J S Bedi Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Western Naval Command said earlier in the day.
The surveillance of large areas of the Arabian Sea is still on, Bedi said as he disclosed that two Naval War Ships along with vessels from the Coast Guard, Helicopter and Dronniers Maritime reconnaissance Aircraft were involved in the massive sea-hunt.
These comments come in the wake of eye-witnesses saying they had seen young men in their early twenties carrying heavy rucksacks disgorge from High Speed Boats off the Gateway of India.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said earlier today that the terrorists got ashore in South Mumbai from boats.
"We have been boarding number of vessels and so far we have found that most of the ships searched has valid papers," the Admiral told a news channel.
Damle said the Navy was assisting Mumbai police and NSG in the operations against the terrorists.
On security measures initiated by the Navy, he said that in the past one year offshore patrol vessels ‘Sujata’ and ‘Sharda’ and Fast Attack Craft Bangaram have been extensively deployed for patrolling duties off the coast of Kerala and off the Lakshadweep islands. These ships also monitor the Sea Lanes of Communication or SLOCs passing close to Kerala and Lakshadweep, he said.
He said the recent decisive intervention by the Indian Navy off the coast of Somalia is a timely reminder that the Navy is capable of protecting the country’s maritime interests.
He said the Indian Navy’s initiative to take action against Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden has been recognised all over the world.