Men in Pak boat that blew up were suspected terrorists: Parrikar

Parrikar told media that if the men in the boat were smugglers they would not have killed themselves when challenged by Indian Coast Guards.

"A normal boat even carrying that drug can throw away the drug and surrender," said Parrikar.

He said there was another boat but in the international waters while commending the Coast Guards for timely action based on intelligence reports.

A  'suspect fishing boat', reportedly from Pakistan, blew itself up near the Gujarat coast after Indian coast guards chased and fired at it on New Year's eve.

A statement issued by the Defence Ministry on Friday said  the incident occurred 365 km from Porbander near the Indo-Pak maritime boundary.

Neither the remains of the boat nor the bodies of any of its four crew members have  been found so far.

In the 26/11 terror attack , a Pakistani boat sailed into Mumbai carrying 10 terrorists who struck the city's landmark areas killing 166 people.

The Defence Ministry statement said as per intelligence inputs received on  the new year's eve,  a fishing boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi was planning some illicit transaction in Arabian sea. Based on the input, coast guard dornier aircraft undertook sea - air coordinated search and located the suspect fishing boat. Thereafter, the coast guard ship on patrol in area was diverted and intercepted the unlit boat at about midnight of  Dec 31.

"The coast guard ship warned the fishing boat to stop for further investigation of the crew and cargo; however, the boat increased speed and tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary," the statement said.

The hot pursuit continued for nearly one hour and the coast guard ship managed to stop the fishing boat after firing warning shots. Four persons were seen on the boat who disregarded all warnings by the coast guard ship to stop and cooperate with investigation. "Soon thereafter, the crew hid themselves in below deck compartment and set the boat on fire, which resulted in explosion and major fire on the boat," the statement said.

Due to darkness, bad weather and strong winds, the boat and persons on board could not be saved or recovered. The boat burnt and sank in the same position, in early hours of January one.

The statement said  Coast Guard ships and aircraft were  continuing operations in area to search for any possible survivor.