New Delhi: Indian maritime forces have been put on high alert following intelligence inputs from the Indian Coast Guard that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered the Gulf of Kutch through ‘Harami Naala’ creek to carry out underwater attacks.
Sources in the defence and security establishment, however, told ThePrint that the advisory was precautionary in nature, and there was “nothing conclusive” about it.
The alert was shared with Mundra and Kandla ports in Gujarat, which have been asked to step up security and remain vigilant.
According to the directions issued, all suspicious activity should be reported to the Marine Control Station, the nerve centre for all maritime forces. Following the advisory, ports and private companies with business interest in the sea started issuing a warning to their staff.
Intel on Jaish-e-Mohammed ‘underwater wing’
The advisory came days after Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said the force had received intelligence that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Pakistan-based group responsible for the Pulwama attack, is training terrorists for an underwater attack.
“We got intelligence that the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s underwater wing is training men,” he said at a function in Pune. “This is one of the changing forms of terrorism, but we are keeping a watch. We want to assure you that we will remain alert and all their misadventures will meet with failures.”
However, Coast Guard sources told ThePrint that the fresh advisory was just meant to ensure people were alert.
“One should not be taken by surprise and hence an advisory was issued, asking all to be alert and to keep an eye out,” said one of the sources, adding, “Inputs about the underwater wing of the Jaish-e-Mohhamed (JeM) have been received from time to time.”
A source in the security and defence establishment said there is “nothing conclusive” that has been found yet.
“In such times, any input cannot be ignored,” added another source. “We paid the price for ignoring inputs in 2008, when terrorists took the sea route to strike Mumbai.”
The first intelligence alert on JeM planning an underwater wing came in late 2017. It was feared that this team would eventually get trained by the Special Service Group (Navy) of the Pakistan military. This is because the skills required are highly specialised and taught to Naval special forces like the MARCOS in India.
Also read: Pakistan reviving days of Kashmir militancy by pushing Afghan terrorists into India: Intel
A new threat
Maritime defence is based on a three-tier security cordon, consisting of the Navy, Coast Guard and the marine police.
Besides conventional threats, such as the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, maritime challenges include enemy-frogmen.
Frogmen are military divers trained to carry out tasks like sabotaging warships and merchant ships using mines, besides carrying out reconnaissance missions.
The non-conventional maritime threat was brought home to the world in 2000, when 17 US Navy sailors were killed as al-Qaeda terrorists rammed an explosives-laden boat into the destroyer USS Cole when it was refuelling at the port of Aden in Yemen.
In 2014, al-Qaeda terrorists made a failed attempt to hijack a Pakistan Navy frigate to target US Navy vessels on anti-terrorism patrol in the northwestern Indian Ocean.
Also read: Security forces say ready to handle violence along LoC, in Kashmir once restrictions ease
If a sensible person is handling the anti-terrorist operations, he would let the attack happen to give the Indian military a valid reason to annex Pakistan.
When morons like you publish news that puts the enemy in a better off situation, you people should be tried for treason.
India must train Afghan nationals to attack Karachi, gawader port. Tit for tat. India must keep at least 10 percent of its defence budget for covert operations in Pakistan.
We must be aggressive. Where ever Pakistan raise Kashmir issue we must raise Balochistan, POK issue. Tit for tat.
I only want to draw your attention to the choice of route of Pakistani commandos to enter Kutch in India….name says it all about them….Harami Naalaa. Need anyone any more ???
If they are fairly certain of an underwater approach, the the main onus will lie with the Navy. It is only the Navy which has the SONAR equipment to scan underwater for submersibles. This time we can’t say that “actionable” intelligence was absent.
Shri A S Dulat has said on record that recent changes will lead to increased terrorist attacks in Kashmir and also in other parts of the country. A large, vaiegated and relatively poor country will have many more soft targets than Israel, which is almost like a secure military bunker.
So what do you want then? Appeasement of terrorists!! We are fighting a religious war against Islamists for last 70 yrs and time has come where we must call it spade a spade
Mr rajvir
Are you in the army? Will you risk your life in this “religious war?” My guess is that you are a fat bellied shopkeeper who grows fat everyday by fleecing the poor people of this country