Kochi:
Three days after guards onboard an Italian oil tanker killed two Indian fishermen off the Kollam coast in Kerala, the ship's crew has finally relented. Kochi Police Commissioner MR Ajith Kumar, who visited the Italian ship Enrica Lexie on Saturday evening said the crew has agreed to hand over the two suspects.
Mr Kumar, speaking to reporters, said that he told the ship captain to hand over the culprits by 8 am today. He also said that they will be produced in court.
The development comes just hours after External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told his Italian counterpart that the crew should cooperate with the Indian authorities.
Ajesh Binki, 25, from Tamil Nadu and Gelastine, 45, from Kerala, were mistaken for pirates and shot dead by the crew of an Italian ship on Wednesday evening about 14 nautical miles off Alappuzha.
The Captain and guards of the Italian ship had earlier refused to surrender to Kerala Police saying the incident happened in international waters. However, Indian authorities say the incident happened in the contiguous zone and it is well within their jurisdiction. The contiguous zone is a band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles or 44 kilometres from the baseline.
"We are not accepting their argument that it happened in international waters," Oommen Chandy, Kerala's Chief Minister had said.
The other defence, the Italians were using was that the firing was in retaliation to a pirate attack, but the Indian government says proper protocol was not followed. External Affair's minister SM Krishna said that the loss of 'innocent lives' could have been avoided. (
Loss of lives could have been avoided, Krishna tells Italian counterpart)
Refuting earlier claims by Italian embassy officials in Delhi that the Indian vessel attacked the Italian ship in international waters, Mr Krishna said that Indian authorities had information that no firearms were present on board the fishing vessel, which was only carrying fishing nets and fish.