Video: Indian Coast Guard Interrogating Crew of Suspicious Ship

The Indian Coast Guard is currently interrogating the crew from a ‘suspicious’ Danish owned and flagged ship they intercepted on Sunday after receiving a tip from the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The MV Danica Sunrise was thoroughly searched on Sunday following an alert from IB that the ship might be carrying arms and ammunition to be offloaded in Mumbai.

Crew onboard has reportedly told the coast guard that they dumped two AK-47’s overboard as security agencies closed in on them. They claim the guns were meant for protection against pirates, known to operate in the area.

Officials became suspicious of the ships intent when no cargo was found onboard.  The decision to hold the ship was made after two different explanations were given for the lack of cargo. One was that two of the British nationals onboard were just disembarking in Mumbai because they’re tenure was up and the other explanation was that the vessel was on its way to Mumbai to get some repairs done.

Joint teams from the Anti-Terrorism Squad, IB, the Navy, Customs, and the Coast Guard are involved with the interrogation. India gives high priority to these types of alerts as weapons used in past attacks on the country have sometime entered by way of ship. Authorities say the ships communication devices; including satellite phones used by the crew are being checked to ensure corroboration with their story. Also, the ship’s GPS systems tare being analyzed to determining its most recent stops before entering India’s coastal waters. Local news agencies report that divers have been called in to check the waters near the ship for the AK-47’s and any other weapons or ammunition that might have been tossed overboard.

<object style="height: 390px; width: 460px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1KOQMhk_JX0?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1KOQMhk_JX0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="460" height="390"></object>