Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 29
It was a literally a comedy of errors on Thursday when several media houses and social media platforms started flashing reports of how ‘Pakistan-trained commandos have entered the Gulf of Kutch ( Gujarat) through the ‘Harami Nallah’ and they are trained in underwater attacks’. This indicated an imminent threat of a terror strike.
The area called the Harami Nallah is a creek along which the international maritime boundary that is disputed between India and Pakistan. Four days ago two Pakistani single-engine fishing boats were nabbed by the water wing of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Harami Nallah. However, nothing incriminating was found.
The media reports were not wrong as they were based on a ‘signal’ — euphuism for a message — which was sent out by Kandla Port Trust, Gujarat, which cited the source of the information as the Deputy Conservator of the Port Trust. Further such warnings were issued by private ports in Gujarat that cited Coast Guard as has having sent the alert.
The reality was that the Coast Guard sent out an alert talking about the possibility of the sea route ‘likely’ to be used and how Pakistan ‘could’ push in trained terrorists. It talked about frequent checking of all vessels and entry and exit points to the ports.
The Coast Guard message was misunderstood and the words ‘likely’ were removed and replaced with definite information that Pak-trained commandos ‘have entered the Gulf of Kutch’.
Top sources in the Navy and the Coast Guard said no such input was sent indicating of anyone having entered. The Coast Guard launched an internal probe and found that no such message was sent, the government agencies immediately intervened to curb the panic caused by the message.
Since the private ports and the Kandla Port Trust had no wherewithal to have any such information, for them to cite the Coast Guard was taken as credible input.
Three days ago, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh cited intelligence reports to claim that terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) is training its members to carry out underwater attacks, but assured that his force is fully prepared to face any such eventuality. Even he had not mentioned of any such person having entered India.
The Navy is the overall in-charge of maritime security, while Coast Guard, the marine police are part of the joint apparatus.
Coast Guard alert misinterpreted
- Coast Guard sent out an alert talking about the possibility of the sea route ‘likely’ to be used and how Pakistan ‘could’ push in trained terrorists
- The alert was misunderstood with definite information that Pak-trained commandos ‘have entered the Gulf of Kutch’
- Top sources in the Navy and the Coast Guard said no such input was sent indicating of anyone having entered
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2MLvMS6
via Today’s News Headlines
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