Indian inquiry board indicts coast guard official for admitting to blowing up Pakistani boat

Contradicting Indian govt's official version, Coast Guard DIG had said he ordered blowing up of Pakistani fishing...

A board of inquiry indicted Indian Coast Guard DIG BK Loshali for admitting to have ordered for a Pakistani boat to be blown up in the Arabian Sea on New Year's eve. 

On February 18, Loshali was filmed at a public function bragging that it was the Coast Guard that had blown up the boat on his orders. His comment was in contradiction with the Indian government's official stance that the 'terror' boat - laden with explosives - blew itself up when Indian Coast Guards tried to search it.

Loshali later denied his statements, saying he was misquoted but was sacked and investigated for his controversial comments. Sources told the Indian Express that a three-member Indian Coast Guard Board of Inquiry found “substance to believe” that Loshali did make the remark.

Read: Pakistani fishermen blow up own boat after India navy chase: Indian defence ministry

“The original footage showed that Loshali did make the comments,” the sources added.

Authenticating the video and Loshali’s claim, according to the sources, “Witnesses present at the event confirmed Loshali’s comments and authenticated the tape.”

“The BoI took two extensions as statements of several persons needed to be recorded. The headquarters will now decide on the action to be taken, including the possibility of a court martial,” the sources further said.

The board of inquiry was constituted in February after Coast Guard was not satisfied with Loshali's response to the show-cause notice issued to him on his controversial remarks contradicting the Indian government’s version of the blowing up of a Pakistani boat.

Read: Caught red-handed: Video shows Indian coast guard admitting to blowing up Pakistani boat

Loshali's comment triggered a huge controversy because it contradicted the government’s version.

“I hope you remember the 31st December night. We blew off the Pakistan… we blew them off,” he said in the video released by The Indian Express.

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'Terror' boat

On January 1, Indian Coast Guard patrol vessels claimed to have intercepted ‘a suspicious Pakistani boat’ in the Arabian Sea, thwarting what the Indian security establishment said could have been another attempt to unleash a Mumbai-style terror attack.

At the time, Indian officials claimed that four men on board the vessel set it ablaze after an hour-long ‘hot pursuit’ by the Coast Guard. But Loshali contradicted the official version, saying he had in fact ordered the boat to be blown up.

Pakistan reacts

Pakistan on February 21 said it stood vindicated in the “terror boat drama” staged by India on the first day of 2015, reiterating that neither was any of its boats missing nor was there any evidence to suggest that the vessel blown up by Indian coast guards was Pakistani.

Read: Staged encounter: India’s terror boat drama vindicates Pakistan: FO

“Having remained shrouded in mystery since day one, the drama of the so-called terror boat is now unfolding. The latest Indian media reports actually confirmed our findings,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told reporters at a weekly media briefing.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also took notice of Loshali’s remarks, saying that the incident “tore off India’s veil of being a peaceful country of the region.”

Read: Boat incident tears off India’s veil of being peaceful: defence minister

“…Pakistan’s desire for peace and coexistence in the region must not be seen as our weakness. International community must also take notice of the incident which is tearing off India’s veil of being a peaceful country of the region,”a statement released by the Defence Ministry stated.

Inquiry

Following the claim, Loshali was removed as Chief of Staff at Northwest region.

Read: Indian coast guard chief who boasted blowing up Pakistani boat sacked

Further, he penned an apology for his conduct to the Coast Guard High command. However, the apology was not accepted, according to sources.

It was reported that there will be an inquiry which will eventually lead to a court martial with regards to the incident.

Read: Boat incident: Indian coast guard DIG may face court martial, says report

Loshali is currently based in the Coast Guard’s Gandhinagar regional headquarters, after he was transferred from the position of Chief of Staff, North West region command.

The probe report, including statements of witnesses, commanding officers in Coast Guard who were part of the operation and Loshali, were submitted last week to the coastal agency’s headquarters in New Delhi.