Port Blair, Jan 28: The Andaman & Nicobar Administration today refuted reports in some print and electronic media units which say two hour delay in the response and a blast at 2:45 PM.
“The preliminary enquiry indicates that the boat left Ross Island around 3:30 PM and the incident occurred 15 minutes or so after that.
As soon as the Police Control Room and Port Control Tower received information about the boat in danger, rescue vessels were mobilized immediately by the police and DSS, and reached the site within 20 minutes,” Mr. Rakesh Bali, the Secretary of Andaman’s Information Publicity & Tourism (IP&T) in a press release today.
He said that the Port Control Tower also directed neighboring vessels to rush for rescue.
“While there may be lag of a few minutes in this recorded sequence of events, the delay of two hours being cited by some sources is preposterous. The report of blast at 2:45 PM is be erroneous and is an attempt to sensationalize, create mischief and is contrary to preliminary reports. However, the magisterial enquiry has to also report on the sequence of events and will shed light on this aspect,” Mr. Bali added.
He said that an FIR has been registered under section 304/34 of the Indian Penal and investigations are being conducted by the Andaman & Nicobar Police and three persons have already been arrested.
