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Stowaways told to leave Indian shores

The Coast Guard authorities have asked the Italian ship, M V Med Star, to leave Indian shores even as the 14 stowaways aboard the vessel have begun a hunger strike in Mumbai.

Coast Guard sources said the stowaways were opposed to being sent back to Iran and Iraq, from where they had fled.

A joint investigation team comprising the Coast Guard, police and intelligence officials had found nothing incriminating on board the ship, a Coast Guard spokesperson said today.

The ship is likely to leave Indian shores soon, he said.

A bomb detection squad, which had searched the vessel, did not find any explosives on board, the spokesperson said.

The vessel, which arrived at Mumbai port on the night of June 13 under the escort of Coast Guard vessels Vigraha and Veera from the Gujarat coast, is berthed off the Mumbai high coast along with Veera.

The stowaways had clandestinely entered the ship at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on June 8, before it began its journey for Kandla port on the way to Europe and took control of the vessel by claiming that they were carrying explosives.

PTI

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