Italian naval guards to be produced before magistrate

Kollam: Two naval guards of the Italian ship Enirca Lexie, charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast, would be produced before a local magistrate here on Monday afternoon.

The naval guards-- Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone-- were arrested by Kerala Police on Sunday and brought to the land from the ship which was intercepted and wharfed at Kochi Port.

They have been charged with murder under section 302 of the Indian Penel Code.

The deceased - Valentine Jalastine and Ajeesh Binki - last week set out to sea in a boat along with nine fellow-fishermen from Neendakara fishing harbour.

They were allegedly killed by the marines of the ship who fired at their boat on February 15.

The Italian authorities have contended that the fishing boat was fired mistaking it to be a pirates' vessel.

After four days of negotiations involving Indian and Italian diplomats, the Naval guards were arrested by police in Kochi yesterday.

They were later questioned by a team of senior police officials including Kochi City Police Commissioner M R Ajith Kumar and Kollam S P Sam Christy Daniel.