Infiltration by Somalian Pirates off Gujarat Coast

In two separate incidents on 19th June 2011 and 26th June 2011, 38 persons, out of which 32 are of Somalian origin, were apprehended by the police off the Gujarat Coast and interrogated by concerned agencies.

Coastal surveillance and patrolling have been enhanced in the area. Joint and operational exercises are taking place on regular basis among the Navy, the Coast Guard, Coastal State Police, Customs and others under the integrated approach adopted for coastal security. Further, 10 Coastal Police Stations under Coastal Security Scheme have been made operational including one at Hazira. A new Regional Headquarter of Coast Guard has been set up at Gandhinagar. There are seven Coast Guard Stations existing in Gujarat and one Coast Guard station at Pipavav close to Hazira is being set up in 2012.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Bharatsinh Prabhatsinh Parmar in Rajya Sabha today. 

 

Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India