Russian couple on sailing trip gives coast guard a miss, manages to dock yacht at Mumbai
The couple was detained by cops as they did not have the requisite permissions
Two Russian nationals, who had mistakenly reached the lighthouse off the Mumbai coast while on a sailing trip on Tuesday, were released by authorities after the cops managed to verify their identities.
According to reports, the 45-year-old Russian man and his 39-year-old wife were on a world sailing tour when they ran out of food and water near the Yemen coast.
When they reached the lighthouse near Mumbai, albeit without permission, they sought help from the local fishermen.
Unable to converse due to the language barrier, the fishermen quickly alerted Mumbai police, who arrived on the spot and detained the couple. However, while searching the yacht, cops did not find anything suspicious.
Following which, they contacted the Russian embassy for verifying their identities. The couple was allowed to leave after verification.
The couple reportedly had a clean background and permission to get into Indian waters, but not land.
However, the cops were still baffled as to how the couple’s yacht was able to avoid Navy and Coast Guard surveillance and enter Mumbai. A senior IPS officer expressed expressed shock at the security lapse.
“We are shocked the way the couple with huge yacht got inside Indian territory through waters. They dodged Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, which is shocking and alarming. More measures needs to be taken,” he told India Today.
Since last week, coastal security forces have been on high alert after the Indian Coast Guard warned Mumbai Police about suspected ISIS militants possibly infiltrating into the city via the sea.
