2 Iranians held, 203 kg chemicals seized as ATS intercepts boat near Porbandar

Gujarat ATS, Indian Coast Guard intercept Iranian speedboat near IMBL; 203 packets seized and two Iranian nationals arrested, probe underway

Updated on: Feb 17, 2026, 18:00:23 IST

By Maulik Pathak

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Ahmedabad: Two Iranian nationals were arrested and over 200 kg of a suspected illegal chemical substance was seized after the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) intercepted an Iranian speedboat near the International Maritime Boundary Line, about 140 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast, police said on Tuesday.

Two Iranian nationals — Abdul Majid and Abdul Sattar — both residents of Chabahar in Iran’s Konarak, were detained, according to officials (Representative photo)

Superintendent of Police (SP) of ATS K K Patel received specific intelligence that an Iranian drug smuggler, identified as Haji Fida, had dispatched a consignment from Iran’s Konarak Port for a mid-sea transfer to an Indian vessel, with Punjab as the final destination.

“Based on the input that the consignment would arrive in Indian waters between February 15 and 16, a planned operation was carried out in coordination with other agencies,” a senior Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad official said.

The intelligence was shared with the Indian Coast Guard, which joined the operation, and teams were positioned at Porbandar.

On Monday night, around 8 pm, the joint team intercepted a suspicious Iranian speedboat within Indian waters. Two Iranian nationals — Abdul Majid and Abdul Sattar — both residents of Chabahar in Iran’s Konarak, were detained, according to officials.

Following a search of the vessel, 203 packets of a suspected chemical substance weighing about 203 kg were recovered.

The boat and the seized material were brought to the Coast Guard station at Porbandar along with the two accused. “The substance seized has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis and legal proceedings have been registered,” the ATS official said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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