MUMBAI: Indian warships with guided missiles, which were dispatched from Mumbai, have begun patrolling in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, according to sources in the Indian Navy in Mumbai.
The warships, said to be six in numbers, have been sent to the Gulf of Aden to protect Indian merchant vessels from pirates passing through the Gulf of Aden, even though the fate of the 18 Indians sailors on board the Japanese-registered ship “Stolt Valor” in Somali waters still hangs in balance.
The Indian warships have on board helicopters and elite marine commandos, trained for covert operations. The Indian naval presence in the Gulf of Aden also signals to the world that India has now the military might as well as the capabilities to hit hard at any enemy target, Balaji Rao, a defense analyst, told Arab News.
Though the warships were covertly dispatched a few days ago, and deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the official communiqué in this respect from the Indian government was only released on Thursday evening that the Indian warships would patrol the route from Salalah in Oman to Aden in Yemen.
The decision was taken to tackle increasing incidents of piracy, but sources said it would enlarge India’s strategic footprints. This move of the Indian government would convey a message to the families of dozens of Indian sailors aboard the ship hijacked by Somali pirates who are threatening to sink the vessel if their demands, including a hefty ransom, were not met by last night.
Meanwhile, three sailors who spent seven weeks in captivity aboard a ship in Somali waters returned to Mumbai on Thursday. Akbar Rafiq Ahmed, Jeevan Kiran D’Souza and Anthony Clyde Thimudo were on an Iranian vessel that was hijacked by pirates on Aug. 21, while it was traveling from China to the Netherlands. The ship was released on Oct. 10 but there was no confirmation whether any ransom was paid.
Muslim top cop reinstated
The Maharashtra government had to eat a humble pie after it was forced to rescind its previous order of forcible retirement of senior police inspector Mehboob Abdul Karim Mujawar of Solapur city. The government directed Mujawar to resume duties from Monday.
Mehboob Mujawar, known in the Maharashtra police for his gallantry and courage, and one of whose acts of acting with iron hand with politicians and criminals alike, even going to the extent of parading politicians in shorts around the town, was forcibly retired by the state Home Ministry when he arrested a liquor tycoon in 2006 on charges of murdering a youth in 1996 on Karnataka-Maharashtra border.
