News / India

India fires coast guard officer over Pakistani boat controversy

Wednesday, 25 February 2015 7:20 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 25 February 2015 7:19 PM ]

File photo shows an Indian coast guard ship during a naval patrol.

A senior Indian coast guard officer who claimed to have ordered blowing off a Pakistani boat on high seas last year has been removed from his post.

Indian coast guard officials told local media outlets on Wednesday that the removal of B.K. Loshali as a regional chief of staff was a routine matter.

Sources say Loshali is being investigated and he will face a board of inquiry at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

The removal comes after he contradicted the Indian government and said coast guard personnel had destroyed the Pakistani “terror boat” on December 31 last year.

Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has also said that Loshali would be disciplined if the inquiry proved he had made the remarks.

In early February, Loshali said he told his men to “blow the boat off.”

“We don’t want to serve them biryani,” he stated, referring to a rich rice dish served at festive occasions.

A statement by the Indian government in early January had said that the coast guards started chasing the boat 365 kilometers (226 miles) from the coastal state of Gujarat after they suspected it carried explosives.

However, the crew set the vessel on fire and a large explosion ensued, the statement noted. It added that all four people on board were killed after it sank and bad weather hampered rescue efforts.

Pakistan has called for India to explain what caused the fishing boat to explode on new year’s eve.

The controversy is expected to spark further tensions in relations between Islamabad and New Delhi over the issue of terrorism.

India still accuses elements in the Pakistani government of having a hand in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, where 166 people were killed in a three-day siege. The perpetrators of the attacks were believed to have sailed from Pakistan’s port city of Karachi into India’s financial capital.

JR/HSN/SS

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