The Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Aikyavedi Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI), a fishermen union, has urged the union government to inquire into the incident of a fisherman who got hit by a bullet near the naval training school in Kochi. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi dated September 13, the fishermen union has asked the union government to find out who is responsible for this incident and to take action. The letter also mentioned that the naval authorities were repeatedly denying the fishermen union's allegation on the incident.
The incident happened when the fishing canoe, in which he worked, was crossing the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Dronacharya to reach the shore on September 7, near Fort Kochi in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. On September 7, a traditionally modified canoe, Al-Rehman I, was returning to the harbour after fishing. When the canoe was about 1.5 km away from reaching the harbour, a bullet grazed and hit the 70-year-old fisherman Sebastian on his ear and he fell. Later, the Alleppey native was admitted to a local hospital in Fort Kochi where he got five stitches on his ear.
The other fishermen who accompanied Sebastian told the media that they saw his ear was bleeding when Sebastian suddenly fell down. They also found a bullet in the boat close to him. According to them, usually the Navy would inform those venturing into the sea about the armed training sessions, however, this time there was no intimation.
According to the Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Aikyavedi, the bullet came from INS Dronacharya. Officials from both the Indian Navy as well as the Kerala police visited Sebastian in hospital. Meanwhile, the bullet was handed over to police officials for further investigation.
Initially, the Navy authorities said they would cooperate with the investigation. But now they are not cooperating and are denying that the bullet came from the naval training centre. "Initially, the navy had agreed to cooperate with the investigation but now they are in denial. There is no other source for a bullet to originate from in that area. We will try our best to find out what happened," Charles George, state president of Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Aikyavedi, told TNM.