Kerala court grants bail to captain of Prabhu Daya vessel

Alappuzha (Kerala), April 3 (IANS) A court here Tuesday granted conditional bail to Gordon Charles Pereira, captain of Singapore-registered Prabhu Daya vessel that was seized after it hit a fishing boat off the Kerala coast on March 1, killing five fishermen.

The Alappuzha principal sessions court asked for a bond of Rs.5 lakh, two sureties and also asked Pereira not to leave Alappuzha district and report once a week to the investigating officer.

The vessel after hitting the fishing boat did not report the incident but continued its onward journey.

This episode occurred two weeks after two marines aboard the Italian vessel Enrica Lexie shot dead two Indian fishermen, and led to a huge public outcry that forced the authorities to act tough.

The vessel Prabhu Daya was identified by authorities and asked to report at the Chennai port. On March 14, the captain was taken into custody and brought before the court here and remanded to judicial custody.

The other two accused include Virendra Kumar Chauhan and Prasobh Sugathan who was sent to judicial custody.

On March 14, Pereira was brought from Chennai by a team of Kerala police officials and was produced before the Ambalapuzha first class judicial magistrate, who sent him to judicial custody to the Alappuzha jail near here.