International oil cargo smuggling racket busted in mid-sea operation: ICG
New Delhi (PTI): The Indian Coast Guard on Saturday said it has busted an international oil smuggling racket by apprehending a set of vessels linked to it, about 100 nautical miles west of the coast of Mumbai as part of a mid-sea operation.
The vessels involved had devised a method to smuggle large volumes of cheap oil and oil-based cargo from the “conflict-ridden countries and profit by mid-sea transfer to motor tankers in international waters”, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said.
The “daring mid-sea operation”, initiated through digital surveillance and enforced through the ever-expanding maritime presence of the Indian Coast Guard, once again establishes India as a “net provider of maritime safety and enforcer of the international rules-based order”, the ICG said in a statement.
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“Three vessels were intercepted by ICG ships, about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai, on February 5, and through sustained rummaging, corroboration of electronic data onboard the suspect vessels and verification of documents and interrogation of crew, the ICG’s specialist boarding team established the chain of incidents and the modus operandi of the criminals," the Coast Guard said.
The vessels were found to frequently change identity to evade law enforcement actions by coastal states. The vessel owners are based in other countries, according to initial investigations, the maritime force said.
The syndicate consist of a network of handlers operating from various countries, coordinating the sale and transfer between seagoing vessels, it said.
Sharing the sequence of events, the ICG said its “tech-inclusive systems” detected a motor tanker conducting “suspicious activity” in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zones, prompting a digital investigation into the actions of the vessel.
“The ICG undertook data pattern analysis of other vessels closing in on the vessel, and identified two other vessels as possible suspects, involved in illicit transfer of oil-based cargo at sea, evading significant duties owed to the coastal states, including India,” the statement said.
“On February 5, ICG specialist teams boarded the vessels and confirmed the accuracy of the digital evidence, leading to the apprehension of the vessels,” it said.
The vessels are likely to be escorted to Mumbai for further investigation and handed over to the Indian Customs and law enforcement agencies for action, the ICG said.
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Ghaziabad triple suicide: Girls were depressed because their father had snatched their phones
Ghaziabad (UP) (PTI): Investigation into the suicide of three minor sisters in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad has revealed that they were depressed because their father had snatched their phones after observing that they were obsessed with the Korean culture, police said.
Due to this, the girls could not play online games and talk to their Korean friends, the police said, adding that their father later sold the phones.
On the night of the incident, they took their mother's phone, but could not access the Korean app on that device. The forensic team, which reached the spot and seized the mobile phone, could not find any access of the Korean app.
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The fingerprints, including the handwritten suicide note and the messages, have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, the report of which is still awaited, DCP (Trans Hindon) Nimish Patil told PTI on Saturday.
In 2015, the father Chetan Kumar's live-in partner died under suspicious circumstances after falling from the roof of a flat at Rajendra Nagar Colony in the Sahibabad police station area. Later, the police dismissed the case, treating the death as a suicide, Patil told PTI.
Interrogation has confirmed that currently, Kumar has three wives - Sujata (Nishika's mother), Heena (Prachi and Pakhi's mother) and Tina. All three wives are biological sisters.
All three sisters were more attached to their father instead of mothers. That is why they addressed their father in the suicide note, and nowhere they mentioned their mother's name.
Cyber crime teams are trying to trace the buyers who purchased the mobile phones through the IMEI numbers so that data of Korean apps could be relieved, DCP Patil said, and added that the police are probing the case from various angles and waiting to get the report of forensic science laboratory.
Nishika (16), Prachi (14) and Pakhi (12) jumped to their deaths from the ninth floor of their residential tower in Bharat City Society under the Trans-Hindon police station jurisdiction earlier this week.
The police have maintained that the case is being treated as a suicide, and the probe is focused on verifying the father's claims regarding alleged online gaming obsession and examining all related aspects, including family circumstances.
Preliminary findings, which include a nine-page pocket diary recovered from the room of the sisters on Thursday, point to an intense attachment to the Korean culture and alleged family discord.
Patil said one mobile phone was purchased by Kumar for Nishika about three months ago, and another for Prachi around 15 days ago.
The three sisters were cremated at Delhi's Nigam Bodh Ghat on Wednesday evening.
