Fishermen deaths: Kerala CM vows tough action

KOCHI:  Terming the killing of two Indian fishermen by an Italian Navy vessel as callous, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the culprits should be punished and the government would take stringent action against them as per the law of the land. “The police have registered a murder case against the Italians. The government is trying to bring the culprits before law after plugging all legal loopholes,” Chandy said here after a meeting of the UDF.  Chandy, who denied the allegation that there was lapse on the part of the State and the Central governments in taking action against the Italians, however, evaded the questions as to whether there was intervention from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for delaying the procedures.In a country like India, the Italians who are accused of murder will also get the opportunity to defend their side. But, it is up to the government to decide whether to accept their version or not. This is the first time such an incident happened in India. So the government is very cautious of it, he said. “The crew members of the Italian ship have claimed that the incident took place in the international waters and hence it would not come under the jurisdiction of the Indian Penal Code. We have to defend such technical arguments in order to ensure that culprits will not escape using legal loopholes,” Chandy said. When asked, why the State Government hesitates to arrest the Italian ship crew after the ghastly murder, Chandy said the government is collecting all the documents to put the case forward in the strongest way. The ship and its crew members are in our custody, he said.