Fisherman dies as navy rams boat
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 December 2002, 14:32 GMT]
A Muslim fisherman was killed and another seriously wounded when a Sri Lanka Navy craft rammed their fishing boat near Mutur jetty, south of Trincomalee, Tuesday morning. "The navy rammed our plastic boat deliberately, destroying it," the wounded fisherman, Mr.Razik, of Thaha Nagar now warded in the Mutur hospital told journalists.
The dead fisherman was identified Mr.Yakub Jawath (35) of Nadutheivu, a fishing hamlet in Mutur, hospital sources said. Mr.Razik said: "A naval vessel came close to our fishing boat while we were fishing in the coast of Mutur, Tuesday early morning. After a few minutes it withdrew from the area. Thereafter it came at high speed and rammed our plastic fishing boat deliberately. [Yakub] drowned when our boat capsized. He could not be rescued as he had become entangled in the fishing net." The Mutur Magistrate, T. L. A. Manaf Tuesday visited the Mutur jetty where Mr. Yakub's body was kept. He ordered a postmortem and released the body of the deceased to relatives. The inquest into the death is to be held next week, court sources said. The District Medical Officer who held the postmortem will submit his report to the Magistrate when inquest proceedings commence next week, the sources said. Mutur police are conducting an inquiry into the incident, the sources added. In the meantime, Muslims in Mutur observe mourning Tuesday. Shops remained closed in sympathy. Mr. Yakub's funeral was held Tuesday evening at his home village Nadutheivu, sources said.
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