Defence Minister stands by statement on Pak vessel , hints action against Coast Guard DIG

Feb 18, Bengaluru

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today denied Coast Guard DIG B K Loshali’s reported statement on blowing up the Pakistani suspect boat off the coast of Porbander on 31st December last year.
Parrikar told reporters in Bengaluru that the government stands by the statement it had made earlier over the issue and an inquiry will be initiated, if required. He also said, action will be taken against the officer if the need arises.

The Coast Guard Wednesday rubbished a story published in a leading English daily which quoted a DIG as saying that the Coast Guard had destroyed the Pakistani terror boat that was intercepted on the night of December 31, 2014 off the Porbandar coast.

The daily claimed DIG Loshali said at a function recently that it was in fact the Coast Guard which had blown up the Pakistani boat on the night of December 31, 2014. The DIG’s statement, as reported by the daily, had contradicted government’s claim that the suspected terrorists had set the boat on fire and blew themselves up after being challenged by the Coast Guard. The DIG later, has also said that he does not subscribe to the report appeared in the English daily.

The Indian Express has released a video of Deputy Inspector General of the Coast Guard in which he claims, he ordered that the suspect Pakistani boat be blown off. The incident had taken place on the night of 31st December.
The video lends credence to the newspaper story published today. It purportedly shows DIG B K Loshali bragging that he was the person who gave the order. TV channels are airing the video showing Loshali addressing Coast Guard officers at the launch of Interceptor Boat at Surat in Gujarat on Monday.