Assault rifles, machine guns taken into custody

KOCHI: The police which conducted search and seizure operations on Italian vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ on Saturday and Sunday took custody of six Italian-made ‘Berretta’ assault rifles and two Belgian-made ‘FN Minimi’ Light Machine Guns (LMG) which have 5.56mmx45mm NATO bore. “We checked the guns that use 5.56mmx45mm NATO bore. Berretta assault rifles and FN Minimi LMGs are the guns in this category. Only after a detailed examination at the Forensic Science Lab can we confirm the exact guns that took the lives of the two fishermen. However, we assess that it was a normal firing and not a sniper type one,” sources in the police said.The search and seizure operations continued till the wee hours of Sunday. It took more than 14 hours to complete the entire examination. “We started the search at 11 am  on Saturday and the entire procedure could be completed only by 2 am on Sunday. The weapons that were taken into custody are kept at Kochi Harbour police station. The guns will be produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Kollam, on Monday and after that they will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram” the police officials said.