2 Italian guards arrested by Kerala Police, face murder charge

PTI

Kochi/New Delhi, 19 Feb 2012: Four days after two Indian fishermen were killed in firing from their cargo ship off Kerala coast, two Italian Naval guards were arrested by police in Kochi tonight and charged with murder.

 

Simultaneously at the diplomatic level, India hoped that Italy will cooperate in ensuring that law of the land takes its course after their team of officials from the Legal and Foreign ministries held a meeting with senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi.

 

The arrest that climaxed four days of hard negotiations between Indian and Italian sides was made by the Kollam police which registered a murder case under section 302 of IPC against the two men--Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone.

 

The two accused, who allegedly shot dead the two fishermen, have been arrested and they will be produced before a Kollam court tomorrow, police sources in Kochi said. They were brought to Kochi shore at 4 PM this evening and taken into custody, nearly eight hours past the 8 AM deadline set by police last night.

 

The arrested men, who are part of the six-member security detail of the ship Enrica Lexie from Italian Navy, were taken to a CISF guest house at nearby Wellington island for detailed interrogation. A Coast Guard vessel was keeping a watch on the Italian vessel, sources said.

 

A diplomatic row has erupted between India and Italy over the incident which occured on Wednesday. The Italian crew claimed the fishermen were shot at on suspicions of being pirates.

 

In New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said both the sides had a "fairly comprehensive" discussion.

 

"We have also explained to them that as good partners and as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had requested yesterday, we hope Italy will cooperate with us in ensuring law of the land takes its course. We also requested them to fully cooperate with Kerala Police," he told reporters.