Second officer of 'Prabhu Daya' remanded

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A magistrate court on Friday remanded to 14 days judicial custody Prasobh Sugathan, second officer of the vessel 'Prabhu Daya,' suspected to be involved in the hit-and-run case at sea on March 1 off the Alappuzha coast.

The officer, who was taken into custody yesterday from Thiruvananthapuram airport on his arrival from Sri Lanka where he was under treatment, was produced before Ambalappuzha First Class Magistrate Court near here this morning.

Prasobh, who mysteriously fell off the ship after the mid-sea collision, was rescued by a Sri Lankan ship. While his father Sugathan alleged that Prasobh was pushed off the ship by his colleagues, the Tolani shipping company that owned the vessel had denied the charge.

Listed as the first accused in the case, Prasobh was in charge of the ship at the time of the collision with the fishing boat resulting in the death of five fishermen.

The captain of the ship Gordon Charles Pereira and another seaman attached to the vessel Mayur Virendrakumar had already been arrested and remanded by the court. The ship is now anchored off Chennai coast.