NEW DELHI: In a midnight operation in the high seas, a Pakistani fishing boat said to be carrying explosives was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Gujarat, but the vessel exploded and caught fire before sinking along with four occupants.

Coast Guard ships and aircraft are continuing operations in area to search for any wreckage and dead bodies of boat occupants. Security agencies were maintaining high vigil in maritime and coastal areas in last couple of months due to several inputs on threat from the sea.

The incident which occurred on the night between December 31 and January 1, some 365 kms off the coast of Porbander, generated strong speculation that it was reminiscent of 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, but there was no official confirmation of that with the defence ministry merely stating that the boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi "was planning some illicit transaction" in the Arabian Sea.

The intercept took place following a precise intelligence-based midnight operation which was conducted by the Coast Guard ships and aircraft to intercept the suspect fishing boat, Coast Guard Inspector General (Operations) K R Nautiyal said.

Parrikar lauds Coast Guard for intercepting Pakistani boat

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar complimented the Indian Coast Guard for intercepting a suspicious Pakistani fishing boat apparently loaded with explosives.

An official statement said Parrikar "complimented the Indian Coast Guard and those involved in the operation for intercepting the rogue vessel off the coast of Gujarat, in a timely and precise manner, thereby, averting a possible danger".

Vigilance enhanced in Gujarat following boat incident

The security agencies have enhanced vigilance along the Indo-Pak border to avert any terrorist attack ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit-2015 in the state.

Indian Coast Guard, Border Security Force and Gujarat police have initiated a high vigil after the incident in the Arabian sea.

Inspector General Kuldip Singh Sheoran, Commander, Coast Guard Region (North-West) today said the ICG has been monitoring the coastal area closely and has pressed six aircrafts into service.

A high-ranking BSF official said the force has been putting in extra efforts to ensure that no terrorist incident took place ahead of the summit.

"We are taking extra efforts to ensure foolproof security as the guests are coming from different countries," he said.

Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2015 which will be held in Gandhinagar from January 11 to 13, is to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with heads of some foreign countries.

"Gujarat police is already on alert due to upcoming summit. Though the Pakistani boat was spotted almost 360 km away from Porbandar, I have asked the IG of Coastal Security to keep a strict vigil across Gujarat coast and supervise the whole security setup in co-ordination with Coast Guard, Navy as well as BSF," said Gujarat DGP PC Thakur.