LET’S NAVY WAITING IN THE WINGS TO ATTACK INDIA

Rakesh K Singh

14 January 2015

The foray of Pakistani boats in the coastal waters near Porbandar earlier this month marks the operationalisation of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba’s marine wing whose 200 aggressively-trained cadres are making desperate bids to cross over to India with active support from Islamabad. 

The LeT men were extensively exposed to marine tactics at the terror outfit’s facility in Muridke with training and simulation paraphernalia provided by the Pakistani Defence forces and Intelligence agencies.

Assessments by Intelligence agencies, so far, suggest that the four occupants of the recently-destroyed Pakistani boat were in regular contact with their handlers in Pakistan Army and the maritime agency of that country.

The terror group had planned such a marine unit, way back in 2006, with the insidious agenda of targeting India’s vital installations spread across the coastal region, including nuclear power stations, missile testing and launch facilities and space infrastructure besides ports.

Agencies are trying to crack the code word “UAEC” that found mention several times during the conversation of the four occupants with their Pakistani mentors over satellite phone. The code could have been possibly used for a designated target in India, Intelligence sources said.

In the conversations with their Pakistani bosses and between the occupants of the two boats, the operatives kept on calling the explosive

consignment keemti saamaan (precious articles), the sources added. 

Amid a looming threat from the LeT’s marine unit, the agencies are also exploring the possibility of ascertaining through forensic analysis the nature of the explosives/chemicals being ferried by the boat. Initial estimates suggest the material could have been used for fabricating powerful bombs.

Agencies here are also trying to analyse a possible plan B of the terror operatives in the wake of their botched up operation.

Initial findings suggest one of the boats was carrying the explosives/chemicals and the second one had the LeT militants on board. However, the boat carrying the explosives developed a technical snag and decided to hand over the consignment to the boat ferrying the LeT operatives and returned to its base in Pakistan.

Following warnings from the Coast Guard, the four terrorists are thought to have destroyed the boat after jumping into the sea. The fate of the boat’s occupants is yet to be conclusively established as their bodies have not been recovered so far, a clear pointer to the looming threat from them. 

The technical wing of the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) had mounted a massive surveillance operation following inputs of the LeT’s designs on the seas. The NTRO had also passed on the details to the Coast Guard that swiftly swung into action leading to the destruction of the boat by the Pakistani terrorists. 

In an interview to an English television news channel, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had on Monday suggested that the Pakistani boat crew could have consumed cyanide before setting their ship on fire in their bid to destroy evidence about their intentions.

Parikkar was responding to a question on why the boat’s occupants chose to set their vessel on fire instead of blowing it up or fighting, Parrikar had told the channel: “How do you know they died (due) to the fire? They could have taken a cyanide pill and burnt the boat.”