Karachi-bound ship carrying explosives intercepted

[seiko]

Karachi-bound ship carrying explosives intercepted

A ship carrying explosives from a Bangladesh port to Karachi was intercepted by security agencies on the Hooghly river channel on Friday evening, officials said.

The vessel, coming from Chittagong in Bangladesh, did not have the necessary clearance for carrying explosives, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) sources said.

The vessel 'Agean Glory' was registered in St Vincent, Liberia.

"When we checked the papers, we found the vessel had not provided the mandatory declarations for carrying explosives to the Kolkata Port Trust and customs officials," the officials said.

The Coast Guard, navy, customs and the CISF personnel are aboard the vessel interrogating the crew.

Karachi-bound ship carrying explosives intercepted- Hindustan Times

[seiko]

Captain of detained ship quizzed, vessel to be taken to Kolkata

Kolkata: The captain of the Karachi-bound ship, laden with military hardware, ammunition and explosives, was on Saturday questioned after the papers provided by him were not in order and officials said the vessel is being brought to the Kolkata Port for scrutiny.

"Papers and documents furnished by the captain of the ship, Aegean Glory Kingstown, to police and customs teams were inconsistent," Director General of Police (DGP) Bhupinder Singh told reporters.

"Customs have now decided to completely rummage the ship. This could mean opening of all the containers and verifying the contents..for this purpose, they will be bringing the ship to the Kolkata Port," he said.

The Karachi-bound cargo vessel from Bangladesh with military hardware and explosives was yesterday detained by the police at Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

The police, Coast Guard and Customs have cordoned off the Liberian registered ship S G Zyat sailing from Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The Navy and Coast Guard personnel after boarding the 153-metre ship yesterday found a huge quantity of explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and smoke bombs in two large containers.

"Details of the consignment were not given in the list furnished to us and further searches will be made in the arms-laden ship," Singh said.

The captain was deboarded and taken for questioning at Radisson Fort, police said.

DIG (CID) Anuj Sharma, South 24 Parganas SP L N Meena and customs officials visited the vessel anchored at Diamond Harbour on a hovercraft. No boat was allowed near it.

Describing the incident as "alarming", they said "it's surprising why the Pakistani-bound vessel was passing through Indian waters."

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) S Karpurakayastha said "the ship was detained on an intelligence tip off.


Read more at: Captain of detained ship quizzed, vessel to be taken to Kolkata

[Condor]

Ha seiko - India caught a Big Fish, No?

Great Intelligence tip off.

[Neo]

Pakistan blasts India for stopping cargo ship

* FO says ship carrying UN cargo for Pakistan, Bangladesh
* Indian police say arms on ship may be from UN mission

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly reacted to the seizing of a ship by India carrying United Nations cargo for Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was being used by UN peacekeeping missions.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that so far Pakistan has not been conveyed anything officially about the stopping of the cargo ship. However, he said the cargo was coming from Liberia and was in the use of UN peacekeeping missions.

He said that the UN cargo includes armoured personnel carriers (APCs) destined for many countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh. “The ship left Bangladesh after off-loading their stuff and was also to anchor at Pakistan to off-load our consignment,” he said, adding, there was nothing out of the ordinary in this ship.

In Kolkata, West Bengal Police Director General Bhupinder Singh told AFP that the Karachi-bound ship might have been carrying decommissioned weaponry from a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia. The vessel was brought to the port of Kolkata in West Bengal state from Diamond Harbour, 50 kilometres south of the city.

“It seems the military hardware was being de-inducted and sent back as three separate consignments to Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan,” he said. After checking the cargo, Indian intelligence officials have contacted UN peacekeeping officials in New York to obtain detailed information about the ship, said Surojit Karpurokayastha, the inspector general of the West Bengal Police. agencies

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

[Neo]

BD says arms on Pakistan-bound ship from UN mission

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s army said on Monday that the arms-laden ship bound for Pakistan detained by Indian authorities last week was returning weapons used during a UN peacekeeping mission. The MV Aegean Glory, bound for Karachi, was seized last Friday, 50 kilometres south of the Indian city of Kolkata. It contained explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and bombs, Indian officials said. The ship was returning decommissioned weapons used by Pakistani peacekeepers during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia, Bangladesh army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Kabirul Islam said in a statement. “The ship left Chittagong Port on June 24 after unloading 32 containers of weapons and military vehicles. The unloading was supervised by a UN designated local shipping agent called Sun Shine Business Limited,” he said. He said the ship was carrying decommissioned weapons used by Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Nepalese UN peacekeeping contingents. afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

[Selma Shirazi]

This is why we need a stronger Navy.