The Coast Guard on Thursday denied reports that any of its vessels had sunk while on patrol duty off the Gujarat coast.
Maintaining that there is no vessel by the name Hari Prasad in its fleet, the Coast Guard said in a release, "Probably, this may be a fishing boat used for joint coastal patrolling by the local police, customs and navy personnel in and around the Gujarat coast."
Meanwhile, police sources in Amreli district in Gujarat said the vessel was privately-owned and the staff on patrolling duty at the time of the mishap belonged to various agencies, including the police, navy and customs.