Prashob Sugathan, second officer of the merchant ship Prabhu Daya that collided with Don I, a fishing boat off the Alappuzha coast on March 1 killing five fishermen, was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days on Friday.
Remand to the first accused in the incident was ordered by the Ambalappuzha first class judicial magistrate V. Udhayakumar.
Prashob, who was arrested by a team led by Ambalappuzha circle inspector P.V. Baby at Thiruvananthpuram airport on Thursday, was sent to the Alappuzha sub-jail until March 29. Prashob, who was produced before court at 10 am under a police escort, had been charged under 304 part II of the IPC.
Meanwhile, Mr P.V. Baby told DC that they had not yet received any significant clue even after Prashob was questioned for four hours by the superintendent of police K.G. James and DySP K. Maheshkumar at the Alappuzha police club on Thursday. Mr Baby also confirmed that the investigation team found mystery on his words.
Ruling out media reports about Prashob’s revelation that he was attacked by the captain, he emphasised that Prashob didn’t disclose the names of any persons who attacked him and who threw him off the ship. “He just confessed that somebody slapped his face and threw him into the water. But he didn’t give any hint as to the attacker,”Mr Baby told DC.
Baby also said that he agreed that there were several boats near the ship while this incident happened. Police says that Prashob was sticking only to the allegations raised by his father, who had earlier alleged that someone had tried to throw his son off the ship.
The police submitted a request before court to get captain G.C. Pereira and the third accused as well as Prashob, the first accused into police custody on Friday. The interrogation would continue after they were in police custody, he added.
Prashob was questioned about two cases, one relating to the alleged ship-boat collision and the other based on a complaint made by his father. Meanwhile, police custody of the second accused, Mayur Virendrakumar ended on Friday.