Operation sanitised coast before 2nd poll phase

Over 300 boats and other coastal vessels were checked during the operation,which concluded on the evening before the second phase of polling in the country. The operation resulted in ensuring the sanitisation of the Maharashtra and Gujarat coast and deterred any untoward incident, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The Coast Guard said that this was the first ever joint operation of this scale launched across the two states and is a step towards more such operations. It may be noted that the lack of coordination between these forces was exposed when the Mumbai attackers managed to enter the country despite an intelligence warning. All possible landing points,beaches and sea routes were also manned during the deployment, the spokesperson said.