New Delhi: Hitting out at the Congress for its comments on the boat incident, the BJP said that the vice-president of the grand old party “should clarify if he favours his spokespersons supporting the cause of terrorists and Pakistan.”

Asked about intercepts gathered earlier by intelligence agencies, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said, “The suspects were interacting about passing on cargo...talking about the families of some of the boat members.”

The Union government had said earlier that the Coast Guard had chased the suspicious boat, after which the four men on board set fire to the vessel, resulting in an explosion in which all four are believed to have died.

Defence sources earlier said this showed the boat was laden with explosives.