Smoke detected on Indian Navy submarine INS Sindhuratna off Mumbai coast.

                                  INS Sindhuratna ( File Pic.)

 Mumbai:  An Indian Navy submarine is headed back to the Mumbai shore after it was forced to surface when smoke was detected on board. Reports said four or five sailors fell unconscious from suffocation and have been airlifted to a Mumbai hospital.

The INS Sindhuratna was being sea tested after a refit, about 40 to 50 km off the Mumbai coast when the smoke was detected. The senior-most submarine officer of the Western Naval Command was on board.

The submarine was carrying no weapons or ammunition. Since it was still in testing mode, it had not been placed under operational command yet. 

In August last year, another Navy submarine, the INS Sindhurakshak, sank in the Mumbai harbour after an explosion on board, killing 18 sailors.