Coast Guard concedes it fired at Tamil fishermen last week

Finally, Coast Guard officials have conceded that personnel of the naval security force did fire early last week at Tamil fishermen hailing from Rameswaram.

A controversy was brewing since last Monday when fishermen hailing from Thangachimadam hamlet near Rameswaram claimed that they were fired at by Coast Guard personnel on the premise that they were not able to reply in Hindi or English to the questions posed to them.

Anthoni Pitchai and Johnson were the two fishermen injured when Coast Guard personnel fired rubber bullets. They were later treated at the Rameswaram Govt. Hospital. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier claimed that the Coast Guard personnel didn’t fire at Tamil fishermen and said that the origin of the bullets fired at them was ‘unknown’.

Speaking to newsmen in Thangachimadam yesterday, Coast Guard commander Ramaro conceded that it was the Coast Guard personnel who fired at Tamil fishermen.

“The 0.22 bullets belonged to us. The ship from which the bullets were fired also belongs to us thought it is not clear under what circumstances the bullets were fired. Firing could have been provoked by the fishermen not obeying instructions to stop the boat for routine checking. We have been conducting inquiry into the issue,” he said.