BSF seizes Pakistani boat in Pathankot

Amid heightened vigil, an empty Pakistani boat was on Tuesday seized by Border Security Force troops from River Ravi in Punjab’s Pathankot sector.

“We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in River Ravi along the International Border in Pathankot sector,” a senior BSF officer said.

He said it was an empty boat.

The boat was probably washed away due to rising water level in River Ravi in Pathankot sector, he said.

The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil due to increasing tension between India and Pakistan.

The seizure comes two days after a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2.

Coast Guard Ship ‘Samudra Pavak’ apprehended the Pakistani boat having nine crew members off Gujarat coast during patrolling.

There were alerts then that two other suspicious Pakistani boats are moving towards either Gujarat or Maharashtra from the Karachi port.

‘Coast Guard Ship ‘Samudra Pavak’ apprehended the Pakistani boat having nine crew members on board at around 10.15 am today (Sunday) off Gujarat coast during patrolling,’ the defence minister had said in a statement.

Preliminary information indicated the people on board were Pakistani fishermen.

However, ‘the boat and the crew members are being escorted to Porbandar for further investigation,’ the release said.

Earlier on Friday, the Coast Guard had said that sensitive sea areas off Gujarat coast have been ‘sanitised’ and surveillance enhanced following India's surgical strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

The Coast Guard had also advised the fishing community and other stakeholders to maintain enhanced vigil and report any abnormal activity either at sea or in areas close to the coast.

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