Confusion on 'terror threat from sea' off Gujarat coast

New Delhi: There was a state of utter confusion on Thursday over the terrorist threat on the shores of Gujarat. The state’s port operators had on Wednesday night sent warning messages to ships about the presence of Pakistan-trained commandos in the area to carry out underwater attacks. But on Thursday morning, that warning changed from “Pakistan-trained commandos have entered the Gulf of Kutch” to “Pakistan-trained commandos are likely to infiltrate into Indian territory through Kutch”.

Sources in the government said that “only an alert was issued over the possibility of infiltration by terrorists through the sea routes and there was a mistake in the letter issued by the ports on Wednesday, which was corrected later on”.

The alert comes days after Navy chief Adm. Karambir Singh warned about an intelligence alert that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had raised a maritime wing and was training underwater saboteurs.

“This is to inform all that inputs from the Coast Guard station that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered the Gulf of Kutch/Kutch through Harami Nala creek area, and are believed to be trained for underwater attacks,” said the message by one of the private port operators on Wednesday night.

However, Thursday morning’s alert said that “reliable inputs are received from the Indian Coast Guard that Pakistan-trained commandos are likely to infiltrate into Indian territory through the Kutch area preferably via the sea route to create communal disturbances or a terrorist attack in Gujarat”.

“The previous security advisory issued on 28th Aug 2019 stands cancelled and this latest security advisory to be used for circulation to all relevant stakeholders,” it said.

The new advisory asked all stakeholders to institute preventive measures to mitigate hostile attacks and assume the highest state of readiness and be vigilant towards any attempts to breach our coastal security.

“Any suspicious activities by individuals/vessels/ crafts/ boats approaching towards the coast are to be tracked continuously and the information to be disseminated to all concerned,” it said.

All shipping agents and stakeholders were directed to inform their vessels accordingly and report any suspicious activity to the marine control station and port operations centres immediately,” it said, adding that security measures had also been enhanced on the shore side of the ports.

The Indian Navy is already on high alert to prevent any terrorist attack by sea after the Centre revoked Article 370 of the Constitution giving a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.