A damaged boat was found near Harihareshwar Beach in Raigad, Maharashtra (India) by fishermen that had three AK-47 rifles, bullets, small arms, and important documents on it.
It is reported by local media that the Australian-owned boat was found 190 km from Mumbai.
The 16-meter boat, called ‘Lady Han’, belongs to an Australian woman, Hana Laundergun, and her husband, James Harbert, is the captain. They were travelling from Muscat to Europe and were rescued in June 2022 by the Korean navy amid rough seas.
Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister told the media that the boat had drifted towards the Maharashtra coast.
“The boat is owned by an Australian lady whose husband is captain… boat was travelling from Muscat to Europe (starting on) June 26. Captain gave a distress call after boat was caught in rough seas (and) Korean navy rescued and handed them over to Oman authorities.”
Fadnavis said that there was no visible terror angle:
“As of now, there has been no terror angle. But investigation is going on. We can’t rule out any angle as of now. I am just sharing primary information so there is no panic”.
However, he further added that Indian authorities should stay on high alert:
“We are not ruling out anything, investigating all aspects. Police have been asked to be on high alert.”
Indian government officials have contacted the arms vendor and the serial numbers of the weapons found onboard have matched with the vendor’s inventory. An Indian official told local media:
“Since a yacht moves slowly, it is permitted to carry small weapons. When the people onboard abandoned the boat, they did not carry the weapons with them.”
Maharashtra Police and the Anti-Terror Squad are investigating the matter as from August onwards major religious festivals are to be celebrated in India.
