A special NIA court in Ahmedabad has sentenced six Pakistani nationals to eight years of rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in the 2019 mid-sea seizure of 330 kg of 'brown heroin' off Gujarat's Jakhau coast. An Indian man, allegedly the intended recipient, was acquitted due to benefit of doubt. The National Investigation Agency had probed the case, alleging funds from the smuggling were intended for a terror organisation.
Police in Gujarat's Kutch district seized 20 packets of charas, each weighing one kilogram, from an island off the Jakhau port. The contraband is estimated to be worth Rs 2.5 lakh per kilogram in the international market.
A total of nine crew members were found on board the Pakistani boat.
The Indian Coast Guard has arrested 21 Pakistani fishermen off Jakhau coast in Gujarat for illegally intruding into Indian waters and seized three fishing trawlers, an official said on Saturday.
In a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Indian Coast Guard have seized over 300 kg of drugs worth Rs 1,800 crore which were dumped into the Arabian Sea by Pakistani smugglers who fled across the international maritime boundary on being chased, officials said on Monday.
Nine Indian fishermen were arrested and five of their fishing trawlers seized by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarat, a fishermen's body claimed on Tuesday.
The Coast Guard has secured the release of 72 Indian fishermen from the custody of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, which had held them in the Arabian sea off Jakhau coast since Friday.
The boat was brought to the Jakhau coast in Kutch district of Gujarat for further investigation.
The fishing boat carrying drugs was intercepted mid-sea by a joint team of the Coast Guard and ATS near Jakhau harbour in Kutch district, the official said.
11 fishermen who were on board the Pakistani boat have been detained.
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency arrested the fishermen and seized the boats off Jakhau coast in Kutch district.
The Indian Coast Guard along with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad apprehended a fishing boat, carrying eight Pakistani nationals and 30 kg of heroin, near Kutch district's Jakhau coast on Thursday, an official statement said.
A Pakistani vessel with 17 crew members on board was today caught by the Indian Coast Guard for straying in Indian Maritime boundary, officials said.
This is the biggest and the fourth major incident of apprehending Indian fishermen by the PMSA since January this year.
The Indian Coast Guard on Friday seized a Pakistani boat and arrested seven fishermen for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line near Jamnagar.
Wind speed at the time is expected to be in the range of 125-135 kmph gusting up to 150 kmph.
According to reports, two boats are from Okha and three from Porbander.
A Indian fisherman was killed and 30 others were allegedly kidnapped by Pakistani Maritime Security Agency, which took them away in five boats from international waters off Jakhau coast in Gujarat, a member of fishermen boat association said in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The CG and ATS personnel seized the boat Al Sakar which had 50 kg heroin on board, in the Arabian Sea, the official said.
Apart from 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed for relief and rescue operations, officials said.
The Coast Guard ships intercepted and apprehended the Pakistani boat 'Al Haj' when it ventured into the Indian waters
Pakistani Maine personnel opened indiscriminate fire on Indian fishermen leaving one of them injured near the international border in Arabian sea off Jakhau coast on Thursday night, officials said on Friday.
All armed forces including the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and Indian Coast Guard have made necessary preparation to provide assistance to the local people of Gujarat.
In the fifth such incident since August, Pakistan coastal authorities have apprehended 28 Indian fishermen and seized five boats, a Gujarat-based fishermen's association said on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department has said that the landfall process of Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has started in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat. The landfall process will carry on till midnight with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 140 kilometres per hour, the IMD said.
At least 12 Pakistani nationals were arrested along with their two boats by the Border Security Force for illegally entering Indian waters near Padala creek in Koteshwar off Kutch in Gujarat.
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph as heavy rains lashed the coastal region, where several areas plunged into darkness due to power cuts and a large number of trees, electric poles and hoardings got uprooted.
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency on Saturday apprehended 18 fishermen from Gujarat along with their three boats near Jakhau port off the state coast, an office-bearer of a fishermen association claimed.
Authorities were on their toes in Banaskantha and Patan districts and relocated thousands of people residing in low-lying areas to safer places, they said.
The state government has begun preparations to deal with the fallout of the cyclone as it will bring very strong wind and heavy rainfall in the region, officials said.
The crew is not traceable, sources said.
Hundreds of people are being evacuated from coastal villages in Kutch district in view of cyclone Biparjoy, but authorities are facing a challenge as many villagers are reluctant to leave their livestock and belongings behind.
Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters that the government is constantly working to ensure that there is no loss of life due to the weather phenomenon.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Thursday evening as a 'very severe cyclonic storm' with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Delayed by 10 days due to cyclone Biparjoy, southwest monsoon is likely to progress further and hit Mumbai between June 23 and 25, the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
Electricity will be restored in affected areas by June 20, he said, talking to reporters in Bhuj, the headquarters of the Kutch district which bore the brunt of the cyclone.
It will also be the third cyclone to hit the western state in June since 1965, the meteorological office said.
Several major cyclones have hit various parts of India over the last 10 years. Here is a look at the notable among them.
The packets containing cocaine, a powerful central nervous system stimulant drug, were found abandoned on the shore of a creek passing from Mithi Rohar village near Gandhidham town, said Bagmar.
