DHAKA:  A fishing boat from Pakistan with four people on board went up in flames off the Gujarat coast in what appeared to be an attempt to evade investigation by the Indian Navy on New Year’s Eve, reports ndtv.

So far, no survivors have been found from the vessel which set sail from near Karachi in Pakistan for what the government described as “an illicit transaction” in the Arabian Sea.

Quoting “sources”, ndtv said, “The boat had ammunition that was meant to be passed onto another boat about 350 kms southwest of Porbandar in Gujarat.”

The agency that handles high-tech surveillance, the National Research Technology Organization, reportedly picked up phone intercepts about “expensive cargo” that was to be delivered near India.

The Indian Navy was then alerted and used Coast Guard ships and aircraft to try and intercept the boat near the maritime border with Pakistan.

However, the boat tried to escape away from the Indian side of maritime boundary. The hot pursuit continued for nearly one hour.

Although the boat did eventually stop after warning shots were fired by the Coast Guard in an hour-long chase, the four-man crew then hid themselves below deck before setting the boat on fire which triggered a large explosion.

In 26/11, a Pakistani boat sailed into Mumbai with 10 terrorists on board who then split into pairs and struck the city’s landmarks killing 166 people, in India’s worst-ever terror attack.

BDST: 1858 HRS, 02, 2015