Indian Coast Guard patrol vessels intercepted a Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian Sea in the early hours of January 1 and foiled, what could have been a 26/11 type terror attack (of Mumbai). The boat was apparently from Karachi in Pakistan.

As per officials of Defense ministry, there were four people in the largish fishing trawler and they set it on fire after an "hour-long hot pursuit" - the Coast Guard fired "warning shots" from the ICGS Rajratan to stop the vessel. The incident took place around 365-Km from Porbandar.

The ship, finally sank to the seabed amid loud explosions around 6:30am on Thursday, reports indicate that the four men in the boat also perished.

As per the defense ministry reports - the fishing boat was being quietly tracked after it began its journey from Keti Bandar near Karachi. It was being dome based on specific intelligence inputs and wireless intercepts. The boat was believed to be carrying explosives.

It seems there were no fishing nets visible on the boat and it undertook evasive actions and also switched off its lights when challenged and asked to stop, these added to the doubts of the Coast Guard. Moreover, the intelligence agencies had reportedly intercepted messages from the boat, one was believed to be about payments to families of those on the "terror boat" who had entered India on a terrorist mission.

The location of the incident is significant because a number of high-profile events are planned in Gujarat soon, among these are Prabasi Bharatiya Divas and Vibrant Gujarat. These would be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries.

Moreover, since US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit India in January to be chief guest at the Republic Day Parade as reported in ZeeNews, there is understandable panic among the security establishment.