Three persons hailing from Kanyakumari, employed in Kuwait, were apprehended on Tuesday morning near Prong’s Lighthouse off Mumbai for travelling in a Kuwaiti vessel without permission, police said on Tuesday. They were intercepted by the crew of the Chaitrali patrol boat from the Yellow Gate police station and were handed over to Colaba police.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, deputy commissioner of Police, Ports, Sanjay Latkar said, “Our vessel was on patrol on Tuesday morning and found three persons in a Kuwaiti boat. We brought them to the shore. They claimed that they were from Kanyakumari and worked for a company in Kuwait. They decided to run away as they were not paid and not given food for nearly two years. Their passports have been confiscated by their owners. They navigated with the help of a GPS and it took ten days to reach Mumbai. Our crew checked them and handed them to Colaba police.”

The trio claims that they were checked twice en route to Mumbai, said Latkar.

Language barriers hindered communication with the Colaba police, as the three individuals were unable to converse in Hindi, Marathi, or English.

The Kuwaiti vessel coming undetected to Mumbai is seen as a big lapse on the part of the Navy and Coast Guard. Despite regular patrols by Naval and Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, as well as the Navy’s P-8i aircraft, and the vigilance maintained by Navy and Coast Guard helicopters, the vessel managed to slip through unnoticed.

Naval sources initially claimed to have first intercepted the vessel at Prongs Lighthouse before alerting the police. However, DCP Latkar countered this, asserting that the vessel was halted by the police who then notified the Navy.

The Naval spokesperson, refusing to acknowledge any lapse on their part, deferred to the ongoing police investigation.

Attempts to contact Coast Guard Additional Director General West K. Suresh and Inspector General Bhisham Sharma were unsuccessful, with their spokesperson saying they were on leave.

The defence forces have always claimed that they scan seas thoroughly and their aircraft maintain vigil in the sea. But they had no answer as to how the Kuwaiti vessel could come so close to Mumbai from Kuwait without getting detected.

Last year, a yacht with arms was found off Raigad district and it was damaged in inclement weather and defence forces had their own reasoning for the lapse in detection of this vessel.

A senior officer of the Mumbai Port Authority said that the vessel us 30 metres long and was stopped by Mumbai police. The officer said after initial interrogation, they could be handed over to Yellow Gate police station. All three occupants had Aadhar cards.