Malappuram: Police on Tuesday arrested three more persons in connection with the Tanur boat tragedy, which killed 22 people, including children, the other day.
According to police, the accused – Salam, Wahid and Mohammed Shafi – all natives of Tanur, helped the owner of the boat and prime accused Nassar go into hiding after the incident.
Police informed there will be more arrests in the coming days.
Earlier today, police invoked murder charges against Nassar, who owns 'Atlantic', the recreational boat that overturned at Thooval Theeram in Tanur. Nassar, who went absconding after the accident, was taken into custody at Tanur on Monday.
HC initiates suo motu PIL
The Kerala High Court initiated a suo motu PIL, directing the District Collector of Malappuram to file a report on the incident that occurred near an estuary in Tanur.
A vacation bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Shoba Annamma Eapen termed the boat accident "shocking" and "haunting" and said their "hearts were bleeding" and they "underwent sleepless nights" after seeing the lifeless bodies of the children.
Taking a serious note of the Tanur tragedy, the court said such accidents have been happening in the state since 1924 with "frightening regularity" solely due to "the deadly cocktail of callousness, greed, and official apathy."
It also arraigned the Kerala government, the District Tourism Promotion Council of Malappuram, the police chief and collector of that district, Tanur Municipality, the Port Officer, Alappuzha, and the senior Port Conservator, Beypore, as initial respondents in the PIL, which is slated to be heard next on May 12.
The bench said many more such incidents may happen "unless we put our foot firmly down" as the "patently visible" causal factors--overloading, blatant violation of statutory law, and skipping of essential safety requirements--were being repeated with impunity and "without fear, care, or caution".
Prima facie, had the officials and authorities who were duty bound to monitor such boating operations done so, "this mishap--like the several earlier ones--would have never happened," the court observed. The court said that every such tragedy "triggers" a routine investigation followed by recommendations that go "unheeded" thereafter.
Earlier in the day, State police chief Anil Kant issued an order constituting a special team to investigate the mishap. Sujith Das S would head the team, in which Tanur DYSP V V Benny, Tanur station house officer Jeevan George, and Kondotty ASP Vijay Bharat Reddy would be the members, an official statement said.
The probe would be held under the direct supervision of Neeraj Kumar Gupta, IG, North Zone, it said. While announcing a judicial probe into the tragedy on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said that a special investigation team of the Kerala police would also inquire into the matter.
The tragedy
Twenty-two people, including women and children, were killed when a recreational boat, Atlantic, carrying over 30 passengers overturned and sank near the Thoovaltheeram beach in Tanur on Sunday. According to district officials, 15 of the deceased were minors aged eight months to 17 years, and there were 37 people onboard the ill-fated boat.
Empty boat sinks in same accident spot
An empty and stationary houseboat sank close to the same area where Atlantic overturned, on Tuesday. An officer of Tanur police said the boat was empty and therefore, no one was injured in the incident. Visuals on TV channels showed the houseboat as almost completely submerged, with only its roof above water.
(With PTI inputs)
