Fishing trawler Kuber could not have gone outside the Customs-demarcated Porbandar area if it had been routinely checked by the security agencies anywhere on the way, top official sources told Newsline on Wednesday.

The trawler was allegedly hijacked near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off the Jakhau coast in Kutch by the terrorists who attacked Mumbai last week.

According to sources, the mandatory Creek Pass issued to the trawler by the Customs Department had not given it authorisation to leave the Porbandar area, a distance of 240 km from Mulyani in north to Kotda south off the Porbandar coast. The Customs records of the vessel accessed by this paper showed that the boat did not have the permission to go beyond a fixed area.

The Creek Pass bearing the CH/PBR/174 issued to the Kuber for a period between August 16, 2008 and December 31, 2008 states, “Permitted to carryout fishing operations in the creek and sea of Porbandar, and to discharge the catch at Porbandar within the port limits of Porbandar.”

P R Ninjar, Superintendent of Customs, Porbandar refused to comment on the issue, but admitted that any boat going beyond the distance mentioned in the Creek Pass amounts to an ‘illegality’ and that the vessel can be sent back by any security agency in the sea.

Sources said that the trawler could not have reached anywhere near Jakhau in Kutch if it had just been checked by the boats of the Customs Department stationed near the boundaries of other ports liked Dwarka and Okha, which are in the route to Jakhau.

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