‘Fishing boats purchased to guide fishermen, not chase terrorists’

Asked why the state government purchased fishing boats for coastal patrolling, state Home Minister Amit Shah passed the buck to the Centre. “We got the boats to guide the fishermen and not to chase terrorists,” he said.

Meanwhile, political bickering has started over the laxity in coastal security in the state in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. Inept marine police stations stand in vain along the state’s 1,600-km long coastline.

The CAG report of 2006 states that the boats purchased by the state government were unable to chase and intercept the high capacity speedboats used by terrorists and other criminals, and therefore made patrolling a futile exercise.

In order to prevent terror attacks, such as the Mumbai blasts of 1993, the Centre had decided to undertake joint patrolling of the Gujarat coast. The objective was to step up security along the coasts, curb infiltration of hostile forces and prevent smuggling of sophisticated arms or explosives across the border, particularly through sea-route.

According to the report, the operational arrangements for joint patrolling was to be made by the respective district Superintendents of Police (SPs), while the operational command was with the naval-detachment under the charge of a Lieutenant of the Indian Navy.

However, a scrutiny of records by the CAG – collected from seven SPs in March 2006 – revealed that a Committee of State and Union Government Officers decided in August 1993 to hire boats of required specification to meet the immediate demand for joint patrol of 13 identified shore points. Only two fishing boats were hired for these 13 shore-points, the report says.

It adds that even when it was pointed out to the state government that it had made an “unfruitful expenditure” by purchasing fishing boats, the state government said the same were purchased for preventive measures, and therefore, could not be considered unfruitful.

Elsewhere, while the Gujarat government has said that coastal security is the Centre’s responsibility, defence experts opine that it is the duty of the coastal marine police of the state to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles (21.6 Km) of the shore, jointly with the Customs department, and that the state government should possess its own boats.

Congress comes down heavily on Modi’s Mumbai rhetoric : Page 5