On September 14, some 10 kg charas was found abandoned from Kori Creek in Kutch . It was believed to have been smuggled in from the other side of the border.

On September 13, charas weighing over 5 kg was found from the shores at Sandi Wand in Lakhpat taluka of Kutch district.

On August 17, nine Pakistani nationals were arrested from Kori Creek after the Border Security Force foiled an infiltration bid.

Notwithstanding the beefed up security cover by all agencies post 26/11 attacks, where a Porbandar-based trawler was hijacked by terrorists to reach Mumbai, the 1,600 km coastline remains porous.

It takes a ship less than a day to reach Mumbai through the sea route after entering the waters off the Gujarat coast. From Surat or Valsad it takes only two hours to reach Mumbai. Even overland journey to National Capital New Delhi takes only a day. If the latest incidents are anything to go by, illegal movements of men and materials continue on the marine borderline.

From Lakhpat taluka in Kutch district to Umargaon in Valsad, there are several vulnerable points along the shore where landing is possible using the porous coastline. Miscreants had exploited this vulnerability to land RDX at Gosabora in Porbandar in 1992 for orchestrating the Mumbai serial blasts . “A large part of the border with Pakistan (from Kashmir to Rajasthan) has been fenced. So the focus is now on the sea route,” said a senior BSF officer.

... contd.