Three crew members of the detained US ship –‘Seaman Guard Ohio’ – were questioned on Friday by Inspector General of Police (Tamil Nadu ‘Q’ Branch) P. Kannappan .
F. Paul David Dennish Towers (50), a British national, and two Indian nationals Lalitkumar Gurung (48) of Maharashtra and Radheshdar Dwivedi (39) of Uttar Pradesh, were in police custody for five days.
Mr. Kannappan, when contacted, said that the investigation was on and there was no specific information to share with media as of now.
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The vessel was apprehended on October 12 by Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Naikidevi’ on the charge of possessing weapons illegally and trespassing into the Indian waters without permission.
The same ship was found in marine waters at Cochin Port in August this year without weapons, the police said adding that this gave rise to a series of speculations.
Magistrate's refusalADVERTISEMENT
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During the trial in the local court in Tuticorin, the Magistrate refused to handover keys of the vessel after the police had sought it, sources added.