The Mandapam Station of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was alerted about the shooting incident a few minutes past 10 p.m. on Monday by the Fisheries department, but could not despatch its vessel for a rescue operation for want of ‘position’ details of the victims.
Informed sources told The Hindu that the Deputy Director, Fisheries, had called the Mandapam station of the Coast Guard soon after the shooting incident and requested assistance, but the Coast Guard could not rush its patrolling vessel near the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) as the official could not give a clear idea about the location of the affected fishermen on the high seas.
“We cannot be groping in the dark aimlessly without knowing the location or the direction,” said a source, adding that the shooting incident may have taken place in Sri Lankan waters and that the fishermen on the mechanised boat would have contacted their leaders in the island only after sailing into Indian waters.
Contradicting claims
As it took about two-and-a-half hours for the fishermen to reach the fishing jetty after the shooting, they would been very much in Sri Lankan waters, sources said, contradicting the fishermen’s claim that they were in Indian waters when the Sri Lankan Navy fired at them.
As no force would open fire without warning, sources suspect that the firing would have taken place after some kind of provocation, and that it was for the fishermen at the scene to set the record straight.
Dismissing the theory as absurd, fishermen leader Emirat charged that the Sri Lankan Navy would stoop to any low when it comes to attacking Indian fishermen.
Besides attacking them with stones, bottles and iron balls, the Sri Lankan Navy had opened fire on many occasions and the seriousness of the issue came to the fore only after the firing claimed the life of a fisherman, he said.
