KOCHI: The Coast Guard on Tuesday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the two marines on board Enrica Lexia had fired a total of 20 rounds on the Indian fishing boat St Antony. “The detachment commander during investigation confessed to have fired about 12 rounds of 5.56 mm (Nato Bore) along with eight rounds from his colleague,” the report stated. The statement was filed in response to a petition filed by Italian Consulate General Gian Paolo Cutillo and the two accused - Latore Massimilano and Salvatore Girone - seeking to quash the FIR in connection with the killing of the two fishermen. According to the Coast Guard, the security guards did not adhere to regulations specified under anti-piracy measures. “The Master Umberto Vitelli said that he was not in a position to order the Naval detachment as they were directly reporting to their command centre in Rome. However, the Master is solely in-charge of the crew or super numerals and responsible for the safety, security and conduct of each on board the vessel. Despite that, the master is yet be charged,” the report said. The report also said that no coordination existed between the wheel house watch keepers and Naval Vessel Protection Detachment who were manning bridge wings. However, the Special Investigation Team of the Kerala Police which is probing the case submitted that the Italian naval marines arrested were not entitled to any sovereign immunity as they were not discharging military duties. Sam Christy Daniel, chief investigation officer of the case, said that the marines committed the offenses without any just cause and in violation of all procedure and norms. In fact, the Kerala coasts were not prone to any piracy. The naval marines were deputed on board the ship for assisting a private shipping company and it cannot not be assumed that they were discharging sovereign functions of their State. The contention that India has no jurisdiction to register a case is without any justification.“The distance of 33 NM mentioned in the FIR is only the distance from the police station to the place of occurrence. The exact location and distance from the baseline are yet to be investigated. For this, travel details, GPS data and other communications have to be verified. Due to non-co operation of the Italian authorities it could not be conclusively probed into,” the report said.
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