Officers investigating the case of the gunning down of a Tamil Nadu fisherman allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy have claimed that the incident could have been triggered by the Rameswaram fishermen allegedly ramming against the Island Nation Navy’s water scooter or inflatable boat.
It is being claimed that such an incident of ramming occurred when the Sri Lankan Navy had cornered the fishermen who were fishing on the high seas on Monday night. The resultant firing led to the death of a 21-year-old fisherman Britjo.
The circumstances under which the boat dashed the water scooter are unclear. It could have possibly been an accident while trying to sail back. But officials said that since the Sir Lankan Navy or the fishermen concerned were not forthcoming on the exact developments, it has become difficult to come to any conclusion at this stage.
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While the Indian fishermen claimed that they were fishing near the ‘Sethu kalvai’ and fortified their claim with ‘GPS reading of 11/28’, investigating officials have countered it and claimed that the fishermen should have been at least six to seven nautical miles inside the Sri Lankan waters, towards Talaimannar when the Navy confronted them.
The Indian fishermen did not immediately hand over the GPS set to the Marine police of the Coastal Security Group (CSG). They handed over the set only after the police exerted pressure through the Fisheries Department, the sources said.
As the situation was volatile in the island with fishermen protesting against the firing incident, the Marine police could not question any of the five fishermen, who were with the deceased fisherman. Sarone (32), the boat driver who was undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital also could not be questioned, police said.
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The CSG secured the GPS set after writing to the Deputy Director, Fisheries, but it has no recent data, Superintendent of Police (CSG) R Sakthivel said. It could not be ascertained whether the GPS was the one carried by the victims on Monday night, he said.
The set has been sent to forensic science department in Chennai for analysis. As the set appeared to be sophisticated, experts were exploring whether the erased data could be retrieved, he said. Mobile phone call details of a fisherman on-board the fishing boat and P Sesu Raja, the fishermen leader, who was informed of the firing were also being analysed to ascertain the timing of the alleged shooting, he said.
Apart from the bullet recovered from the body of the deceased, the CSG has also collected splinters from the mechanised boat, blood stained cloth of Britjo, he said, adding the bullet and other materials would be sent to the ballistic division in Chennai for examination after completing the legal formalities here. As the ‘wheeling house’ of the boat bore the brunt, the shooting should have taken from the range of 50 to 100 metres, police said.