Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, Dec 02: Amid concerns about the security of India’s coast, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Tuesday admitted that there are gaps in the coastal surveillance apparatus.
Importantly, the Navy Chief admitted that the Coast Guard had intelligence that terrorists were looking to use the sea route to attack the financial capital of India. The Admiral revealed that the trawler in which terrorists came to Mumbai was in fact intercepted by the Coast Guard but was let off by terrorists as all the papers were in place.
On way to improve the security net and to plug the holes, Mehta called for better synergy between Navy and the Coast Guard.
On the issue of a trawler from Gujarat getting free access to the Mumbai, Mehta said, “There are 1, 50,000 trawlers in India out of which 50,000 trawlers operate on western coast alone and it is difficult to check each one of them.”
Calling for urgent improvement in the security of coastal areas security, the Navy chief said that while the present system was good but also accepted that it needs fast upgradation.
First Published: Tuesday, December 02, 2008, 00:00