Stray bullet injury: Police search source, Navy reluctant to hand over details

Fisherman Sebastian, who was shot at Fort Kochi; the stray bullet. Photo: Manorama News

Kochi: The police team investigating the case of a fisherman getting injured by a stray bullet off Fort Kochi has sought more details from the Navy’s gunnery school ‘INS Dronacharya’. The team wants more information on those who underwent training and the guns and bullets used on the day of the incident.

Ballistic experts, who examined all aspects of the firing butt, are expected to hand over their report soon. Police are searching for the source of the bullet that hit fisherman Sebastian on his ear. The police investigation is now around INS Dronacharya.

Though the police have submitted the bullet to the court, the scientific examination would be done only next week. The police are examining all possible sources from where the bullet could have been fired. Sources said the police have not taken the Navy's claim at face value that the bullet did not come from the latter's premises.

The police have confirmed that the fishers’ boat was only one-and-a-half kilometres from the Navy’s training school. Though the documents have been examined, the Navy has not handed over crucial information, including the number of bullets used for training that day.

With the help of ballistic experts, police have collected information, including the nature of firing training, the distance, the possibility of the bullets passing beyond the defence wall and the possible distance a bullet might reach if it breaches the wall. These details could become crucial in the investigation.

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