Navy seizes dhow with 19 foreigners

An Indian warship on anti-piracy patrols in the Arabian Sea has apprehended 19 foreign nationals, including 14 suspected Pakistanis, on board a dhow sailing suspiciously off the Bitra Island in the Lakshadweep Islands chain.

An Indian warship on anti-piracy patrols in the Arabian Sea has apprehended 19 foreign nationals, including 14 suspected Pakistanis, on board a dhow sailing suspiciously off the Bitra Island in the Lakshadweep Islands chain.

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INS Rajput, a destroyer, was on anti-piracy combing operations in the Exclusive Economic Zone west of Bitra when it spotted the dhow sailing, a navy spokesperson said on Saturday.

“The dhow is being escorted to Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep Islands to be handed over to the police,” he said.

Sources said 14 of the 19 people are suspected to be Pakistanis and the rest, Iranians. The apprehended people said they came to the sea to fish. “But the nets on board were dry,” sources said.