The explosives that had struck merchant ship MV Chem Pluto had detonated fully, experts who examined the remains have found. It was suspected that the ship, which returned to Mumbai yesterday with a huge gash on her stern, was struck by a drone 400 km off India’s west coast. Going by the remains of the attack vehicle, the experts who examined the ship today, have concluded that it was indeed a drone.

After sanitisation and preliminary analysis, which is now in Mumbai, Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialists have said that the explosive charge on the drone “detonated completely causing extensive damage above waterline”.

“Remnants of projectile have been collected by the Indian Navy for further forensic analysis,” the Indian Navy told the media.

Consequent to the drone strike, India will now deploy warships, aircraft and other assets in the Indian Ocean to protect merchant vessels.

“In light of the recent maritime incidents in the Arabian Sea, IN has commenced focused maritime security operations in the region. The presence of IN warships and air surveillance in the region has been enhanced. Actions are being progressed in coordination with national maritime agencies towards ensuring safety of merchant marine in the region,” the Navy said.

Already, the Navy and the Indian Coast Guard have moved destroyers in the Arabian Sea. Three warships  — MV Mormugao, Kochi and Kolkata — and maritime patrol aircraft was deployed on Saturday soon after the UK Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, reported the drone attack.

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has been stepping up its attack on ships in the Red Sea shipping lane in retaliation to Israel’s air strikes in Gaza.

The MV Chem Pluto, though, was struck while passing Iran — the obvious conclusion from the situation has been vehemently denied by Iran.

The US Defence headquarters Pentagon has said the ship was hit by “a one-way attack drone fired from Iran”.

India will track down those behind attacks on Merchant Navy ships, “even from the depths of the sea” and take action against them, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said.

MV Chem Pluto, an oil tanker, had sailed from Saudi Arabia and was headed for Mangaluru in Karnataka when it was attacked.

A second oil tanker – the Gabon-registered MV Sai Baba, with 25 Indian crew members on board – was also attacked by a drone in the Southern Red Sea, Indian and American military officials have said.

The BJP has dropped Anupam Hazra, the MP from Bengal’s Bolpur from the post of the party’s national secretary over statements that deviated from the party line.  The decision — which will be implemented immediately — was taken by party chief JP Nadda on a day Union Home Minister and the party’s chief strategist Amit Shah is on a visit to Kolkata.

Mr Hazra was elected from Bolpur on a Trinamool Congress  ticket in 2014 but crossed over to the BJP.

He was the party’s Scheduled Caste face and was given the senior post in 2020. He was given another stint in 2023. He was also made the party’s co-incharge of Bihar.

But over the last months his statements had triggered controversies.

In September, Mr Hazra made headlines by suggesting that “corrupt” leaders of Trinamool Congress, who are expecting summons by the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate should contact him to join the BJP.

The party’s state unit distanced itself from the comment, in the backdrop of Trinamool’s  “washing machine” allegations against the party.

“You can go to my Facebook page and contact me. If you feel shy to come forward and talk about joining the BJP, you can get in touch with me and tell me your wish. We will see how your services can be used for the party,” Mr. Hazra was heard saying in a video that was widely circulated.

A blanket of dense fog covered Delhi and its surrounding areas on Wednesday morning as visibility dropped to just 50 metres, disrupting the movement of traffic. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted “dense to very dense fog conditions” over northwest and central India including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. 

In Delhi, the Palam observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport recorded a visibility level of 125 metres while at the Safdarjung observatory it dropped to just 50 metres. On Tuesday, over 30 flights at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport were delayed as fog enveloped the Delhi-NCR region. 

The minimum temperature in Delhi dropped to 7 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature is expected to 24 degrees Celsius.

Apart from Delhi, several north Indian cities woke up to foggy weather that reduced visibility. While Patiala, Lucknow and Prayagraj recorded very low visiblity of 25 metres, in Amritsar it dropped to 0 metres. 

According to the weather office, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, between 51 and 200 metres is dense, between 201 and 500 metres moderate, and between 501 and 1,000 metres shallow.