Porbandar naval base: Navy says news of blast erroneous, clarifies sound was of firecrackers

The news of explosion near a naval base in Porbandar is erroneous, said the Navy in a statement.

Pic courtsey: ANI

Ahmedabad: Authorities were on alert on Friday morning after a sound resembling a blast or a gunshot was heard near a naval base at Porbandar in Gujarat`s Saurashtra.

However, later it turned out to be a hoax after the security men conducted a thorough search in the entire area.

"The sound heard at Porbandar was of a firecracker," Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said.

"We received a complaint this morning from one of the guards at the communication room of the Naval base which said that he had heard two-three gunshots being fired," Porbandar Superintendent of Police Tarunkumar Duggal told news agency PTI.

"We carried out a search operation in the entire area, in and around the Naval base, for about three hours," he said.

"However, after a thorough search operation, nothing was found. The alarm raised seems to be a hoax," Duggal further said.

He also denied that there were any reports of an explosion at the Naval base.

The Porbandar city located on Gujarat coast is on a high alert following the surgical strikes recently carried out across the Line of Control by the Army.

The Indian Coast Guard, Navy, and the Gujarat coastal police have increased vigil on the coast.

Security has been enhanced on the Gujarat coast, which has vital installations like ports, oil refineries and famous temples at Dwarka and Somnath, following inputs from intelligence agencies about possible infiltration bids by terrorists through the sea route, police had said yesterday.

The alert has been issued for coastal districts of Gujarat based on an input received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) recently, they had said.

Gujarat, having 1,600 km-long coastline, shares border with Pakistan.

During the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, terrorists had hijacked a fishing trawler from the mid-sea in Gujarat to travel to Mumbai shores.

(With Agency inputs)