New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard has debunked the media reports that suggested that the force was involved in any operation involving a Dubai princess who was trying to escape from there — and that the fictitious character had been intercepted by the Indian agencies 50 miles off the coast of Goa.

Media reports from Britain had claimed that AgustaWestland middleman Christen Michel was extradited to New Delhi in exchange of a Dubai princess who had escaped from Dubai with a French national. The reports said three Indian Coast Guard ships, along with two from the UAE, had intercepted the duo 50 miles off the coast of Goa by after which they returned to the Emirates.

"The Indian Coast Guard was not involved in any such action. There is no operation involving a Princess in which our ships or personnel took part," a Coast Guard spokesperson told MyNation.

The official said none of the foreigners or Indians who wrote reports in this regard had contacted it for the force's version of the issue.

MyNation takes a look at the reasons why these stories done by some media outlets don't hold any water. The stories seem to have been done probably to discredit the Narendra Modi government's success in getting Michel back to India for the probe into the AgustaWestland scam. 

There is a mismatch between the timing of the said operation and Michel's extradition

Rather than crediting the CBI and NSA Ajit Doval for successfully bringing in Michel for criminal investigation, the anti-Modi elements are crediting it to the so-called operation carried out by the Indian Coast Guard and the UAE forces. While the said operation took place allegedly in March 2018, the extradition took place only in December 2018. If the Dubai Emirates was so indebted to the Indian government, they could have extradited Michel much earlier.

The Indian Coast Guards don't have a commando wing

The reports suggest that the operation was carried out by commandos wearing black jumpsuits, but the Coast Guard does not have a separate commando wing to perform special operations.

No corroborative evidence

One of the reports suggest that though the French spy who was trying to help the princess escape did not have photographic evidence of the incident, but he had other ways to prove that the Coast Guard did take part in the alleged operation! The identification number of the boat suggested by the spy, Coast Guard officials said, does not exist.