Suspicious 'Pak' boat kept sending signals of non-compliance: Coast Guard

"We got an input from the  intelligence agency that a suspicious boat has been found at Porbandar with a suspicious description. We continued a surveillance. When we intercepted, the boat started switched off its lights. We asked them to stop but they did not respond. After warning, they switched off lights," Deputy Director General (DDG), Operations, Coast Guard, KR Nautiyal told media.

He said the boat did not show any compliance despite being"cornered by the Coast Guard's ship."

He said the ship was suspicious in its movement.

"If they had no suspicious reason, then they had no point of setting ablaze the boat," he said.

The suspicious boat was believed to be Pakistani because of its construction and flag it was bearing.

"We had seen four people positively," Nautiyal said.

The suspicious boat submerged into the sea in the morning after it was put on fire.

A statement issued by the Defence Ministry on Friday said  the incident occurred 365 km from Porbander near the Indo-Pak maritime boundary.

Neither the remains of the boat nor the bodies of any of its four crew members have  been found so far.

In the 26/11 terror attack , a Pakistani boat sailed into Mumbai carrying  10 terrorists who struck the city's landmark areas with brush firing that killed 166 people.

The Defence Ministry statement said as per intelligence inputs received on  the new year's eve,  a fishing boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi ws planning some illicit transaction in Arabian sea. Based on the input, coast guard dornier aircraft undertook sea - air coordinated search and located the suspect fishing boat. Thereafter, the coast guard ship on patrol in area was diverted and intercepted the unlit boat at about midnight of  December 31.

"The coast guard ship warned the fishing boat to stop for further investigation of the crew and cargo; however, the boat increased speed and tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary," the statement said.

The hot pursuit continued for nearly one hour and the coast guard ship managed to stop the fishing boat after firing warning shots. Four persons were seen on the boat who disregarded all warnings by the coast guard ship to stop and cooperate with investigation. "Soon thereafter, the crew hid themselves in below deck compartment and set the boat on fire, which resulted in explosion and major fire on the boat," the statement said.

Due to darkness, bad weather and strong winds, the boat and persons on board could not be saved or recovered. The boat burnt and sank in the same position, in early hours of January one.

The statement said  Coast Guard ships and aircraft were  continuing operations in area to search for any possible survivor.