Crew of suspicious ship being interrogated

The crew of a suspicious Danish ship intercepted by a Coast Guard vessel on Sunday following a tip off from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is being interrogated by a joint team of Indian security agencies. An exhaustive search of MV Danica Sunrise did not yield any arms or ammunition but crew members have reportedly told interrogators that they dumped two AK-47s into the sea after Indian security agencies closed in on them. The crew members claimed they were carrying the guns to protect themselves from the pirates, who have been operating in the area. Among the eight crew members are two former soldiers of the Royal British Army. The intelligence agencies had received an alert that the ship, intercepted off the Gateway of India, was carrying arms and ammunition to be offloaded in Mumbai. The arms and ammunition for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in the city was dropped by boats in coastal Raigad, south of Mumbai. Even the 26/11 terrorists had smuggled into the city from the coast. Interrogators have become suspicious after the search revealed that the ship heading towards Mumbai was not carrying any cargo. Crew members say this was because they wanted to allow two British crew members to disembark since their tenure on board was being terminated on Monday while another explanation given was that they wanted to get some repairs done here. The joint team of interrogators are from Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad, IB, the Navy, Coast Guard, city Crime Branch and the Customs department. The Coast Guard ship Subhadra Kumari Chauhan which was on patrol off Maharashtra coast was diverted to intercept the Danish ship on Sunday evening.