India paramilitary forces heighten vigil along Sir Creek estuary in Gujarat

Kutch (Gujarat), Nov.26 (ANI): Indian paramilitary forces have heightened vigil along the Sir Creek area, 100 kilometres estuary that lies between Gujarat and the Pakistani province of Sindh.

"We have got surveillance equipment which is keeping round the clock surveillance from the parts where infiltration or any kind of movement can emanate, so these are being kept under surveillance. Besides, we are guarding the border areas where they can come and it is being guarded very heavily because that remains the only point from where somebody is expected to come," said Vishnu Dutt, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gujarat state frontier.

The development has come, as the country is commemorating its first anniversary of the Mumbai attack that killed 173 people dead and 308 injured.

Ten gunmen landed on Mumbai shores by boats at sunset on November 26, 2008 and fired indiscriminately at a busy railway station, a Jewish settlement, a cafe and luxury hotels-Trident and Taj Palace Hotel.

Several people were held hostage for the next three days and at least 166 people were killed before commandoes smoked out the last of the terrorists on November 28th.

One gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani national, was taken alive and is presently facing trial in a special court in Mumbai.

New Delhi and Islamabad agreed in December 2006 to conduct a joint survey of the 100 km (60 mile) estuary.

Each side's maritime security officials regularly arrest fishermen who stray into the other's territorial waters, as there is no clear demarcation line, a major grouse of fishing communities in the region. (ANI)