The bodies of two fishermen, who were shot dead allegedly by security guards of an Italian ship off Kollam coast on suspicion of being pirates, were brought here by the Coast Guard and Marine Enforcement authorities.
The preliminary assessment of the marine authorities is that armed guards aboard the ship might have fired at the fishing boat mistaking it for a vessel of pirates, official sources said.
In the aftermath of the incident yesterday, the Coast Guard had launched two ships ‘Sumar' and ‘Lakshmi Bai' and an aircraft to trace the ship, located it and asked it to anchor off Kochi for a detailed investigation.
The State Government has announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased fishermen, identified as Mr Ajesh Binki (25) and Mr Jalastein (45). The district administration announced an emergency relief payment of Rs 10,000 each for the kin of the killed.
The bodies would be sent for post-mortem to the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram later in the day.