07 February,2024 05:06 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
The boat was apprehended by Mumbai Police officials. Pic/Sources via Faisal Tandel
A court in Mumbai has prolonged the police detention of three men accused of illegally entering India by boat from Kuwait until February 10. The police need time to check their itinerary and determine whether they committed any crimes on overseas territory.
The trio, Nitso Ditto (31), Vijay Vinay Anthony (29), and J Sahayatta Anish (29), appeared before a Metropolitan Magistrate. They face prosecution under the Passport (entrance into India) Rules for failing to follow proper entrance procedures, reported PTI.
According to the report, the men were discovered on a Kuwaiti boat anchored off the Gateway of India in south Mumbai on Tuesday. Police filed a remand note with the court, indicating that the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) searched the boat and discovered no explosives.
Furthermore, a GPS gadget found in the boat will be examined to determine the route followed from Kuwait to India. The accused claims to have gone through Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Muscat, Oman, and Pakistan before arriving in India on January 28. However, police have yet to corroborate this path, The report added.
"During the initial probe, the accused persons said they left Kuwait on January 28 and travelled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Muscat, Oman and Pakistan before entering the Indian shores. The police are yet to ascertain this route," the note said, per PTI report.
The Mumbai Police had charged three individuals with unlawful entry after arriving on a boat from Kuwait; the trio are from Tamil Nadu.
According to the PTI report, the police had booked them under Section 3 (a) with penal section 6 (a) of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules.
The boat was checked after it was anchored at the Gateway of India, an official told PTI. According to the report the workers had gone to work in Kuwait two years back for work, however, were allegedly ill-treated by their agent who took them there. The trio escaped from there.
The event has prompted concerns about potential marine security vulnerabilities.
Notably, ten Pakistani terrorists who carried out a terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008 arrived by water. The terror assaults killed 166 people and injured over 300 others, according to the PTI report.
