MV Kuber to set sail after owner gets clean chit

Fishing trawler MV Kuber, which was used by the terrorists to enter Mumbai from Porbandar for the 26/11 operation, would set sail for Gujarat on Monday, according to the Times of India. u00a0The trawler was seized by the police and remained docked at Malet Bunder near Ferry Wharf for over two months. u00a0The crime branch gave Kuber owner Vinod Masani a clean chit last week. Masani, a resident of Porbandar in Gujarat, moved the Esplanade court through his advocate Ganesh Nair to seek the trawler's release. The crime branch did not object to it. u00a0The court granted permission on the condition that the vessel would not be sold or destroyed as it was part of the evidence in the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the 26/11 strikes.u00a0 The terrorists travelled from Karachi by Al Hussaini till the international maritime border and then shifted to Kuber. Six nautical miles off the Mumbai coast, they moved into a Gemini craft (dinghy) and landed at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade.u00a0 A senior crime branch officer said they could not conclude as to whether Kuber was hijacked by the terrorists.u00a0 Kasab had told the police in his statement that on November 24 morning, while they were waiting with their LeT handlers, Kuber was docked next to Al-Hussaini.u00a0 The terrorists then unloaded their arms, ammunition, luggage and barrels containing diesel in Kuber.u00a0 Four crew members of Kuber were shifted to Al Hussaini and later killed. Kuber skipper Amar Narayan Solanki, who guided the terrorists before shifting into the dinghy, was also killed.u00a0 Solanki was earlier arrested by the Pakistani authorities for entering their territorial waters. It is not clear whether he agreed to help the terrorists,'' an officer said.u00a0 Missing boat A missing Pakistani trawler has become a cause for concern among security agencies in Gujarat. The trawler, Mashallah, left a port near Karachi on January 15 with 11 men and had since been missing. The Pakistani marine security agency tried to establish radio contact with the boat but it could not be tracked.