A habeas corpus petition was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking the production of 551 fishermen missing in Cyclone Ockhi.
A division bench of Justices R. Subbiah and A. D. Jagadish Chandira directed the Central and State authorities to file their counter-affidavits on December 22.
The petitioner, A. M. Anto Lenin of Kanniyakumari, said that a large number of fishermen from 42 villages in the district, who went out for deep sea fishing, had not returned after Cyclone Ockhi. These fishermen used to venture as far as 200 nautical miles into the sea.. He said that his cousin’s son, sole breadwinner of the family, was one of the missing fishermen. In another instance, only three of a crew of 14 fishermen, which included his friend, were rescued by a helicopter team. The whereabouts of other fishermen were still not known.
The petitioner said that he joined a team led by C. J. Rajan, president of Samam Kudimakkal Iyyakkam, to ascertain the number of missing fishermen. The team visited families of missing fishermen across Kanniyakumari and found out that 551 were missing. The rescue teams of Indian Navy and Coast Guard were carrying out their operations only within 60 nautical miles from the shore, whereas the fishermen who made it to the shore had told the team that there were bodies floating in the deep sea beyond 60 nautical miles.
The petitioner said that the missing fishermen should be rescued and bodies floating in the deep sea retrieved. A DNA test should be conducted before handing over the bodies to the families, he said.
