Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC president V M Sudheeran has sought a thorough probe into the Coast Guard shooting incident that injured two fishermen off Vizhinjam coast near here on Monday.
“The Coast Guard says they fired shots at the boat after the fishermen took 'evasive' action on being directed to stop. But only a proper ingestion can reveal the truth,” the Congress leader told reporters here on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the Coast Guard, the fishermen from Tamil Nadu suffered 'minor' injuries when warning shots fired across the boat's bows 'ricocheted.' They were admitted to Medical College Hospital after first aid.
The fishermen were identified by police as Subin (20) and Clinton (23) from Thuckalai in Kanyakumari District.
The boat along with seven others onboard had been handed over to Vizhinjam coastal police as it did not have any valid registration papers and identity cards for the crew.
According to the release, the boat 'Rishika', which set sail from Tuticorin in neighbouring Tamil Nadu Monday, was asked by Coast Guard to stop for routine investigation. However, it increased speed and started fleeing.
"The Coast Guard initially tried to stop the boat by using loud hailer and VHF channel-16. Thereafter, signal flares were fired to stop the boat. However the boat did not stop and continued to take evasive actions. This increased the suspicion and as per standard procedures warning shots was fired across the bows of the fishing boat," it said.