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Coast Guard DIG remark sparks row over Pakistan terror boat incident

by IBNS 18 Feb 2015, 11:15 am

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IBNS): A new controversy has occurred over the Dec 31, 2014 night incident of a purported Pakistani terror boat blowing itself up off the Gujarat coast when chased by the Indian coast guards with a senior officer of the Coast Guard quoted in video footage saying that the boat was blown up by India and not by Pakistan itself.

 "I hope you remember the 31st December night. We blew off the Pakistan...we blew them off,"  Coast Guard official BK Loshali was shown in a footage saying to a group as released by Indian Express on the New Year eve incident.

"I was there at Gandhinagar and I told at night 'blow the boat off...we don't want to serve them biryani'," he was shown in the video saying to coast guard officials at an event in Surat.

But Loshai, who is a DIG of Coast Guard, later denied the remarks attributed to him.

The Indian Express quoted him denying, "I do not subscribe to the report. I have not made this statement. The operation was not being handled by me. I was not privy to it completely. I reiterate the boat set herself on fire and was not sunk by coast guard."

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar meanwhile  said the Indian government "stands by its statement on the Pakistani boat explosion" and he said why the DIG made the statement would be probed.