Boat from Kuwait illegally reaches Mumbai, raises security concerns

The boat was apprehended by Mumbai Police officials. Pic/ Sources via Faisal Tandel

Three people illegally reached Mumbai's coastal limits via the sea route from Kuwait in a boat, raising questions about coastal security. Sources informed that during the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, Mumbai 26/11 attacks, terrorists also utilised the sea route.

According to the police, on Tuesday morning at around 7:30 am, the boat Sumaram Chaitrali, while conducting routine marine patrol from Gateway of India to the Light House area, noticed a boat of a different make moving suspiciously in front of Sassoon Dock in the Sank Rock area. A Mumbai police team took immediate action and stopped the boat, which was later identified as belonging to Kuwait, named Abdula Sharif 1.

"There were three persons in the boat identified as Nitso Ditto, 31, Infant Vijay Vinay Anthony, 29, and J. Sahayanta Anish, 29, all three into fishing and based in Tamil Nadu. Since the said boat had entered Indian waters without a license and was within the limits of the police station of Colaba, the police officer on duty on the Chaitrali boat contacted the South Control Room, and the boat and its occupants were handed over to Colaba police. Further investigation regarding the boat is ongoing at Colaba Police Station," said a police officer.

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As the coastal area falls under the jurisdiction of the Yellow Gate police station, they began the investigation and found that the three individuals are residents of the state of Tamil Nadu and are Indian citizens.

"All three were sent to Kuwait two years ago by an agent from Tamil Nadu named Captain Madan for work. They traveled from Trivandrum to Kuwait by air route. They started working as fishermen in Kuwait for the last two years on Abdula Sharif's boat named Abdula Sharif 1. During these two years, the boat owner did not pay for any kind of work. They were also beaten up by the boat owner while working, so when they demanded their Indian passports from the owner, he refused and threatened to kill them if they ran away from work. As they had informed their relatives about all the incidents from time to time, they decided to take a boat together and come to India," said an official.

On January 28, the boat Abdula Sharif 1 left Kuwait without informing the owner and reached Mumbai on January 6, today. Information regarding all three individuals and the boats has been provided to all coastal and Indian agencies.