Footage revealed of armed Indian coastguard aboard local fishing vessels

A video is being circulated on social media purportedly showing footage from Wednesday afternoon when Indian navy and coastguard are said to have boarded local fishing vessels which were within the Maldives' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The three vessels that Indian military has been said to board are Asuruma 3, Niru 7 and Maahoara 3.

While the matter has been widely discussed since events on Wednesday, the 'Bodukanneli Masveringe Union' (Yellowfin Tuna Fishermen's Union) posted a video showing the troops in action on the boats.

It was this union that was responsible for first flagging this issue and bringing it to the attention of the government and the public.

As seen in the video, the Indian coastguard is armed and active on the boat. The crew of all three boats were confined to the back of the boats.

An Indian Navy vessel can also be seen waiting nearby.

The video was taken by a crew member of one of the three vessels concerned.

As previously learned, the military officials ordered all the crew members to delete any photographic evidence they may have gathered.

While the vessels were stopped on the afternoon of Wednesday, the Fisheries Ministry's vessel monitoring system confirms that the vessel was within the boundaries of Maldivian ocean territories.

The Union's leader Nasheed quoted the vessel's captain as saying that the Indian Coastguard first sent a drone to approach the vessel. He said that there were two Indian Coast Guard vessels in the vicinity, and one of it approached the boat only after first making observations through the aid of the drone.

Allegations arise that foreign navy forced crew to delete photos

The Edition