The Sri Lankan Navy had allegedly fired at least seven rounds at fishermen before gunning down K. Britjo (21) on the fateful Monday night, if the bullet marks in the mechanised boat in which they ventured out for fishing are anything to go by.
The Marine police of the Coastal Security Group, which registered a FIR against the Sri Lankan Navy based on a complaint from B. Arul Clinton, one of the victims, said that there were seven bullet marks in the boat, indicating that there were at least seven rounds of firing before Britjo was shot.
After registering a case, a marine police team led by Superintendent of Police (CSG) R. Sakthivel conducted inquiries after inspecting the boat. The SP, accompanied by the Assistant Director of Forensic laboratory here, inspected the damaged portions of the boat over the past two days and collected samples.
The Marine police said AK-47 rifles could have been used to fire the ammunition — a suggestion echoed by an armoury expert in the Armed Reserve police.
However, the bullet would be sent for ballistic analysis before arriving at a conclusion.
