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- Denis Giles
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Port Blair, Jan 29: The owner of the ill-fated boat ‘MV Aqua Marine’, which capsized in the sea on its way from Ross Island to NVF Jetty, Chatham on 26th Jan, 2014, resulting in the death of 21 tourists, has been arrested by the Central Crime Station today i.e. on 29th Jan., 2014.
A team of officials under the supervision of Shri N. Rasheed, DySP and led by Insp. S. S. Rathore has been constituted to investigate the case. Several witnesses have been examined so far and their statements have been recorded. Underwater photography of the capsized boat has been done by the experts. Documents, Certificates etc pertaining to the vessel have been seized and are carefully being examined.
The owner, Smt T. Jaya, W/o M. Karnan (37 yrs) R/o Sippighat was subjected to sustained interrogation and arrested after gathering sufficient evidence against her.
In this case, earlier three accused persons have already been arrested by the police including the Boat Manager, Boat Master and the crew member, who are presently on police custody remand, while the Boat Owner, Smt T. Jaya was produced before the Hon’ble Court and has been sent to judicial custody. The case is still under investigation, a communication from the Superintendent of Police (CID), A&N Islands said here today.
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- Denis Giles
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Port Blair, Jan 27: On 26/01/2014, at about 1550 hrs, information was received at the Police Control Room that a private tourist boat MV Aqua Marine carrying 48 tourists and two crew members has capsized in mid-sea in front of the Fisheries Training Center, Dignabad. This information was instantly relayed to the Police Marine Force (PMF), Coast Guard and Joint Operation Command (JOC). A Search and Rescue Operation was immediately launched by these agencies.
A police boat MV Sher Ali was the first to reach the spot from Chatham Jetty. Two other police boats MV TRAK and MV Riflemen joined them shortly. Other agencies including Coast Guard and Navy also joined the Search and Rescue Operations.
50 persons were rescued/recovered from the mid-sea and they were rushed to GB Pant Hospital by PCR Vans and Ambulances. A few public persons also helped in these efforts. 21 were declared brought dead at the GB Pant Hospital, Port Blair, which include 08 males, 12 females and 01 female child. Fifteen persons were admitted in the hospital, all of them have been discharged. In all, 26 tourists alongwith two crew members were rescued in this operation. One person, V. Suresh (35 yrs), r/o Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu is still missing. Search and Rescue operations are still continuing to locate him.
The local police has registered a case at PS Aberdeen vide FIR No. 31/2014 dated 26/01/14, u/s 304/34 IPC. The case has now been transferred to PS Central Crime Station (CID) for further investigation. During investigation, three accused persons (Boat Manager and crew members) have been arrested for their culpability in this criminal case. They will be produced in the Hon’ble Court of CJM, Port Blair on Tuesday.
The Post-Mortem Examination was conducted in the morning by a team of doctors at the GB Pant Hospital. All the 21 persons have been identified and their bodies were handed over by the Police to their relatives and known persons. The 26 tourists, who survived this tragedy, have left the islands for their respective destinations. The police was hugely cooperated by the PBMC officials and public persons during this exercise.
Detailed investigations are presently on as to ascertain the passenger capacity of the vessel, mandatory safety measures like life saving vests etc, communication equipments, sea-worthiness certificate of the vessel etc.
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- Denis Giles
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Update as on 1430 Hrs: All 21 bodies have been shifted to mainland by Jet Airways and Spice Jet. Sixteen bodies have been shifted to Chennai. The bodies were accompanied by the Secretary of Port Blair Municipal Council, Sheo Pratap Singh. Meanwhile three bodies have been shifted to Mumbai via Kolkata and one to Delhi via Kolkata.
Port Blair, Jan 27: As of now 29 people have been saved while 21 have been confirmed dead. Latest report adds that two more bodies have been sighted. Recovery process of the two bodies is still on. Three bodies have been shifted to Chennai this morning.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Police, Sudhir Yadav IPS while talking to Andaman Chronicle informed that a Jaguar Boat of the Port Management Board got the information about the accident at 1550 Hrs. and the first Police Boat Sher Ali could reach the accident spot at 1610 Hrs.
DGP Sudhir Yadav further said that according to survivors, the tourist Boat 'Aqua Marine' had left from Ross Island at 1530 Hrs. While Andaman Chronicle gathered from one of the Survivors Mr. Tyagarajan R/o Kanchipuram Dist., Tamil Nadu that the accident took place before 3.00 pm.
Meanwhile, soon after the accident (the timing of which is estimated to be around 2.45 pm, as per the locals and fishermen present on the shore, Dignabad area), the locals and fishermen had taken out their country boats and immediately got involved in the rescue operation first.
List of Survivors:
1. Pratima Ashok Patil
2. Nivedita C. Bhosekar
3. Harshad Bhosekar
4. Ranga Nathan (62 yrs)
5. Selva Raj (63 yrs)
6. K A Tyagrajan
7. Poonam Singh (46 yrs)
8. Baby Vinidini (3 yrs)
9. Koushik Das (35 yrs)
10. J. Padmini (55 yrs)
11. K L Babber (72 yrs)
12. Mrs. Valli (48 yrs)
13. N Jaipal
14. Ganga Bai
15. Pooja (7 yrs)
16. Nitin Sharma
17. Garima Sharma
18. Shree Prakash Sharma
19. Shreepee Singh
20. Shaleen Singh
21. Kurma Gurunathan, Kanchipuram
22. Preeti, Kanchipuram
23. Durai Raj
24. Gajendran
25. Shivanandan
26. Gopal
27. Prabhu (Boatmaster)
28. Uttam (Crew)
29. Phagui (Crew)
Out of 21 dead, the list of Identified Bodies are as follows:
1. D. Selvaraj R/o Kanchipuram
2. Lalji Singh R/o Mumbai
3. R. Karunakaran, R/o Chennai
4. WG Ganapathi R/o Kanchipuram
5. Durai Jai Kumar R/o Chennai
6. S. Perumal R/o Kanchipuram
7. Chandrasekhar, Bhosekhar, Mumbai
8. Alka Bhosekhar, R/o Mumbai
9. J Usha, R/o Kanchipuram
11. K. Vanja, R/o Chennai
12. S Darshini, R/o Kanchipuram