The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has given a clean chit to the crew of a Danish ship that was detained last week on suspicion of carrying arms and ammunition.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has given a clean chit to the crew of a Danish ship that was detained last week on suspicion of carrying arms and ammunition. The Denmark-registered vessel, Danica Sunrise, was detained by the Indian Coast Guard following an intelligence terror alert. Detailed searches and investigations revealed that the crewmembers did not carry any weapons and ammunition to be unloaded at Raigad. "The captain of the ship and the two security officers submitted a letter in writing that the weapons found on board were licensed," said Rakesh Maria, additional director general and chief of Maharashtra ATS.
"The crew had all the required permission for carrying the weapons as they were sailing on international waters," added Maria. He also refuted reports about the crewmembers throwing away the arms and ammunition in to the sea, fearing detention. The Indian Coast Guard searched a merchant vessel off the Mumbai coast on a tip off from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that it was carrying a large quantity of illegal arms and ammunition.
The Danish ship was detained off the Gateway of India after it was learnt that the ammunition was to be unloaded near Raigad. Incidentally, explosives for the 1993 serial bomb blasts were also offloaded near the Raigad coast. Based on the intelligence alert, a message was relayed to coast guard boats and the vessel was traced. After this, security personnel boarded the vessel, searched the ship and interrogated the crew.
Senior ATS officials said that the immigration department, intelligence bureau and customs also conducted a thorough check. A background check of the crewmembers revealed that the two people named in the intelligence report were ex- soldiers of the British army. They were planning to fly to the UK as their tenure onboard had expired.
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