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Suspicious N Korean ship detained at Indian coast

Saturday, August 08, 2009 CHENNAI: The Indian Coast Guard detained a ``suspicious'' North Korean ship, which had dropped anchor off Hut Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after more than six hours of high drama that ended with Indian sailors firing in the air. Officials of Army intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and other agencies are set to inspect the ship and interrogate its occupants. Indian Coast Guard official for Andaman and Nicobar Region, told local television over phone that ``several things were amiss'' about merchant vessel MV Musen, which later declared that it was carrying 16,500 tonnes of sugar from Thailand to Umm Qasr in Iraq. ``She shouldn't have dropped anchor here in the first place, she didn't respond to our signals, and her log book was found to be vague,'' Nautiyal said. Preliminary inspections found that the vessel was carrying sugar. A detailed inspection will be carried out on Saturday by high-level intelligence officials.

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