Thiruvananthapuram, September 10 (BPNS)

In the incident in which a fisherman suffered a bullet shot injury, the Coastal Police conducted another round of examination at the Indian Navy’s gunnery school INS Dronacharya. The examination was carried out with the help of ballistic experts. It was on Wednesday that a fisherman identified as Alappuzha Manichira native Sebastian (72) got hit by a stray bullet off Fort Kochi. He along with 31 other fishermen were on their way to Vypin Kalamukku harbour when the incident occurred. He was travelling in Al Rahman No 1 boat.

“The search is in continuation to the ongoing investigation. The fishermen had alleged that it was the navy who fired them. But they had denied it. It is for ascertaining the facts that the search was conducted with the help of ballistic experts. We examined whether there is any possibility of a bullet straying off the target and could hit the fishermen at the location,” said an officer who was part of the search team.

It is learned that the search team had inspected the firing butt at INS Dronacharya and had instructed the concerned to surrender the five guns used that day for training practice.

The guns once submitted will then be sent to the Forensic Lab in Thiruvananthapuram for further examination.

At the same time, the navy is of the stance that the bullet that had hit the fisherman is not theirs, triggering concerns among fishermen and police.

“It has been confirmed that the navy carried out firing practice on Wednesday. The time of the practice also matches the time of the incident. To confirm whether any navy personnel is behind the incident the report of ballistics and a forensic team is awaited,” said an officer.