Pakistan seeks details of boat seizure off Gujarat coast

New Delhi, April 22: Pakistan on Wednesday raised with India the issue of arrest of eight suspected Pakistani smugglers off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat and sought details of the incident.

"Pakistan High Commission has formally approached Ministry of External Affairs to share details of seizure of two Pakistani boats and apprehension of their crew members this past weekend as reported by the Indian media," Manzoor Ali Memon, Pakistani Press Attache here, said.

A boat carrying 232 kgs of narcotics with street value of Rs 600 crore was seized and eight Pakistani crew onboard were arrested in a joint intelligence-based operation by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard from international waters off Gujarat coast on April 20.

The crew were yesterday paraded before media onboard ICG vessel 'Sangram', which intercepted and apprehended the boat, and packets of the seized contraband, satellite phones and GPS system were also displayed.

Navy sources said an input about a second suspicious boat was also received. "However, when we searched the area, no such boat was found," they said.

PTI