BSF seizes empty Pakistani boat in Ravi river along international border in Pathankot

Amritsar: An empty Pakistani boat, which drifted into Indian territory, was seized on Tuesday by BSF troops from Ravi River in Punjab’s Amritsar district, a seizure which comes two days after Coast Guard apprehended a Pakistani boat off Gujarat coast. The boat was seized from Tota post area in the district. BSF Director General K K Sharma said in Delhi that “no suspicious” item was found on the boat and prima facie the boat drifted to the Indian side. The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil in border areas due to increasing tension between India and Pakistan. BSF’s Punjab Frontier DIG, R S Kataria said, “The Pakistani boat had got washed away to this side in Ravi river along the International Border (IB)”. [caption id=“attachment_3033400” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] He said it was an empty boat and had got washed away along with its anchor. “Yesterday, there was strong flow in the river. The boat could have probably got washed away due to rising water level in the river,” he said. Kataria said such occurrences were not rare and in the past too even animals have got washed away due to strong flow and rising water level in the river. On 2 October, a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard. Coast Guard Ship ‘Samudra Pavak’ had apprehended the Pakistani boat with nine crew members on board off Gujarat coast during patrolling.