Fishing Net Buoy From Pakistani Boat Triggered High Alert Off Raigad Coast: Sources

News18

08-07-2025

Last Updated:
A GPS signal from a drifting Pakistani fishing buoy was activated in Indian waters near Raigad, prompting a high-level alert, sources said.
Hours after a suspicious boat was spotted in the Arabian Sea in Maharashtra's Raigad district, sources told CNN-News18 that the agencies had informed the local police about a GPS from Pakistan being activated in the waters.
As a high alert was sounded and a search operation was launched, it was later known that a fishing net buoy, belonging to a Pakistani boat, had drifted into the Indian waters.
The fishing net buoy was identified with an Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponder.
Meanwhile, Raigad Superintendent of Police Aanchal Dalal told news agency PTI that the sensitive operation had not been called off, considering the high-alert situation.
On Sunday night, the Indian Coast Guard informed the police that the suspected Pakistani boat, 'Muqadar Boya 99" with a boat number MMSI-463800411 was spotted near Korlai Fort, prompting an intensified search operation.
The vessel was spotted on the Indian Navy's radar, around two nautical miles off the Korlai coast in Revdanda, officials had said.
The potential security scare sent agencies into a tizzy as 10 terrorists from Pakistan had sailed in a boat to reach the Mumbai coastline under the cover of darkness and launched a deadly terror attack in November 2008, killing 166 people.
Following the alert, the Raigad Police, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), Quick Response Team (QRT), Navy, and Coast Guard personnel rushed to the spot at night and launched the search.
QRTs and the BDDS teams patrolled the coast at Korlai and Salav while security along the coastline in Raigad was stepped up.
Police stated that a drone of the fisheries department was used for surveillance while a Coast Guard helicopter was deployed to patrol the coastal area.
As many as 52 police officers and 554 personnel of the Raigad Police had joined the search for the suspicious vessel.
The search was intensified with the help of the Coast Guard, Navy, and Maharashtra Maritime Security in the morning hours.
The Coast Guard informed the police that it was a fishing buoy. Following a search operation of over 20 hours, the police discovered that the suspected fishing boat was in Karachi.
Police stated that a similar fishing buoy from Okha had drifted to the Gujarat coast on January 3.
On the ground, armed police put up security blockades at 19 spots in Raigad district, while searches were conducted to identify suspicious vehicles or persons.