NEW DELHI: India’s coast guard seized an Iranian fishing boat off the country’s southern coast early on Sunday and arrested 12 crew members, officials said.

Top Kerala state police officer T.P. Senakumar said the Iranian crew members were being questioned for possible smuggling and breach of India’s national security, but he declined to give details.

Sitanshu Kar, India’s defence ministry spokesman, said the boat was intercepted and seized early on Sunday by the coast guard. The boat left Kalat in Iran on May 25 and it was likely involved in the transfer of high-value contraband at high seas, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted an Indian coast guard statement as saying.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2015

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