Mumbai, Feb. 20 -- The police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Jugwinder Singh Brar, a Dubai-based Indian national, and eight crew members following the seizure of three "Iran-linked" vessels by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The ships - MT Stellar Ruby, MT Asphalt Star, and MT Al Jafzia - were intercepted on February 6 approximately 100 nautical miles west of the Mumbai coast. According to the FIR registered on February 15, based on a complaint by an Indian Coast Guard commandant, the Coast Guard began tracking MT Asphalt Star on February 4, and found the vessel was involved in various suspicious activities. Investigators said the three vessels used forged protection and indemnity certificates and documents to seek entry into the Alang Ship Breaking yard in Bhavnagar Gujarat. "All three vessels used AIS spoofing to conceal their identity and facilitate these illegal acts. When the staff was questioned after the three ships were seized, they admitted they had turned off their voyage data recorders," an officer said. "We are probing if the ships were carrying sanctioned Iranian oil." Brar and eight staffers of the three ships have been booked under sections 318 (cheating), 336 (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), 340 (forging document or electronic record) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS; and relevant sections of various other laws. The police will seek custody of those detained, officials said. Brar said: "The ships were not engaged in any illicit activity." He further threatened to file a defamation suit against Indian authorities for seizing his "innocent ships"....