KOCHI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police will produce the weapons seized from the Italian oil vessel Enrica Lexie, allegedly used by the Italian Naval marines to kill two Indian fishermen, before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Kollam on Monday. The weapons were seized on Sunday after an extensive search on the ship, which lasted for 16 hours. The weapons, including eight guns and ammunition along with documents, have been kept in trunk boxes and shifted to the Harbour police station.The search and seizure of weapons and other documents started late on Saturday and came to an end in the early hours of Sunday. Indian Navy personnel, the Coast Guard, Customs, Central Industrial Security Force, representatives of the Forensic Department, ballistic experts, fingerprint experts, Italian officials, defence attache, Revenue Department officials, advocate Sujesh Menon representing B Raman Pillai Associates, interpreter Jose Hilton and two Italian ballistic experts comprised the large team present in the vessel during the seizure procedure.Speaking to media at the oil terminal after seizing the weapons, Kochi City Police Commissioner M R Ajith Kumar said, “We have seized almost all material evidence related to the case. The Customs officials have conducted extensive search of the entire ship. The technical aspects were taken care of by the Coast Guard. The arms verification was conducted by the Navy. These materials have been moved to the Harbour police station and will be produced before the Magistrate on Monday. Search and seizure list and the report on the status of the investigation will also be produced before the court,” the Commissioner added.The Italian ship will remain docked at the Kochi port till it gets a no-objection certificate from the police and the approval from the High Court. “Until the investigation carried out by the Kerala Police is complete and a final decision comes from the High Court in the admiralty petition filed by the kin of the deceased fishermen, the ship cannot leave Indian territory,” Ajith Kumar said. He appreciated the co-operation shown by the Italian delegates and crew members during the search operation and added that the security cover provided by the police will continue. When asked if the police will seek an extension of the custody of the accused, he said that the investigation team will take a call on it. The accused were remanded in police custody for three days. Later, this was extended for seven more days. The remand period comes to an end on Thursday.
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