Thiruvananthapuram: After five days of high drama both on land and at sea, Kerala police on Sunday arrested two security men of the Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie who are alleged to have opened fire at a fishing boat off Alappuzha coast on Wednesday night, killing two men on board.
A team headed by Kochi city commissioner M.R. Ajith Kumar arrested Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone for murder from the ship anchored at Kochi.
The two men taken into custody are Italian naval guards. They were arrested in the presence of Southern Kerala Inspector General of Police Padmakumar, Kollam City Police Commissioner Sam Christy Danial, Italian Consul General in Mumbai Gian Paolo Cutillo and Italian Defence Attache Franco Favre.
A senior police officer said the arrested Italians were taken to the CISF guesthouse in Kochi for further interrogation.
After completing the formalities of the arrest, they would be handed over to Kollam police under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred and who have registered a case of murder against the crew members following the incident.
The senior police officer added they would have to face trial under Indian criminal law and Italy could raise in court whatever objections it had to their being booked for murder.
Kerala police had conveyed to the union ministries of Home and External Affairs that the fishermen were shot dead in Indian territorial waters and that action needed to be taken against the culprits accordingly.
This was announced on Saturday by Jacob Punoose, Director General of Kerala Police.
Ministry's approval
Convinced by the case put forward to it, the Home Ministry gave its nod to the state police to take action against the security men as per the law of the land.
Marine legal expert Shyam Kumar said the Italian oil tanker was to be detained in Kochi until the deceased fishermen's relatives filed compensation cases in an Indian court, because once the ship and its crew left India, it would be difficult to get compensation from the shipping company. According to him, the fishermen's kin are entitled to a hefty compensation from the company that owns the oil tanker.
The Kochi City Police Commissioner and his team boarded the Italian vessel at around 8am yesterday, the deadline set by the police to hand over the two accused.
Two forensic experts, a translator, the Italian Consul General and his defence attache also accompanied the police.
The Italian authorities had earlier agreed to hand over the two against whom a case of murder has been registered by Kollam Police in connection with the incident.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi had yesterday called his Indian counterpart S. M. Krishna who told him that the captain of the Italian vessel must cooperate with Indian law enforcers.
During the telephone conversation, Krishna told Terzi that the people onboard the ship, particularly the captain and the two personnel involved in the shooting, should fully cooperate with Indian investigating authorities and the law should be allowed to take its course.
