Now that Porbandar is an intelligence hotspot in the wake of the Mumbai terror strike and is inundated with investigators from various Central agencies, a sobering casualty has been the traditional evening peg or two (or more) of the Navy men here.The Navy officer’s mess, usually bustling with “happy” people around dinnertime, was deserted on Wednesday evening. “You never know what they (read intelligence men) say about us in their reports,” a naval officer said.The bar on the Coast Guard campus has been closed temporarily. “We have strict instructions not to be found drunk by any intelligence men,” said an officer. There is also paranoia now that officers of the Central and state intelligence departments as well as the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are going through almost everyone with a fine tooth comb in Porbandar, including naval and coast guard officers. My phone may be tapped, there is this peculiar beep sometimes,” an apprehensive officer said. “I was told by a security guard that he stopped a suspicious looking man near our campus on Wednesday. He was from the RAW,” a Coast Guard officer added.
