Port Blair, Sept 12: The Indian Coast Guard Ship C-146 apprehended 11 Myanmarese poachers 68 NM east of Port Blair on 11 Sep 12. The Coast Guard Dornier on a training sortie under the command of Commandant Anurag Chaudhari reported suspicious boat at 1155 hrs. On receipt of information, Coast Guard Ship C-146 based at Port Blair was immediately sailed with dispatch. The Coast Guard Dornier was launched again at 1620 hrs on 11 Sep 12 to track the boat. The sea was raging with swell of around 3 mtrs and wind gusting upto 35 kmph. The Coast Guard Ship C– 146, under the command of Dy Commandant Ankur, braved the extremely rough sea conditions and reached reported position within three hours.
In a perfect sea-air coordinated operation, the Coast Guard Ship finally succeeded in the apprehension of 11 Myanmarese poachers along with boat at 1800 hrs on 11 Sep 12. The apprehended boat is in possession of sophisticated Diving air compressor with diving gears to undertake extraction of Sea Cucumber from our Exclusive Economic Zone. The 12 mtrs Myanmarese wooden boat along with 11 poachers was brought to Port Blair on 12 Sep 12 and handed over to Central Crime Station for legal formalities.
The Coast Guard within the fortnight has apprehended a total 24 poachers comprising of 19 Myanmarese and 05 Indonesians, in three different sea – air coordinated operations. A communiqué received from Commandant SSN Bajpai, Chief Staff Officer (Operation) of Coast Guard Regional Headquarters, Andaman and Nicobar.
