Kerala CM hardens stand on Italian shooting

Thrissur (Kerala), Feb 24: With the shooting of the Kerala fishermen by Italian marines sparking off an diplomatic row of sorts, Italy seem to be taking a hard stance on the matter and stressing that the accused sailors need to be tried in their country. The matter was put to rest when Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy denied media reports that stated that the first information report (FIR) filed by Kerala police on the case was weak.

Chandy speaking to reporters said, “It is unfortunate that canards are spread like this by people who do not have a clue of what the case is about. Our case is very strong and nothing was left to chance when the case was registered. There is no need for an alternative FIR.”

The Italian vessel that was anchored in the outer sea at Kochi was brought to the dock at the Cochin Port Trust on Friday morning. Meanwhile, ballistic experts of Kerala Police are expected to go on board the Enrica Lexie to recover the arms used for the shooting that killed the hapless fishermen. The two Italian marines, Latorre Massimillano and Salvatore Girone were arrested and their custody has been extended for 7 more days by a court in Kollam on Thursday.

The investigation team has got hold of a search warrant to go on board and find the weapon used for the killing. The court in Kollam also granted permission to representatives as named by the Italian officials to accompany the investigation team during their search and also during the interrogation of the Italians.

A high-level meeting between Italian and Indian officials is expected to take place in Delhi later today that will be attended by the representatives of the Kerala government as well.

OneIndia News