Narrow escape for fisherman off Kochi shore as bullet grazes him

A fisherman narrowly escaped death when a bullet grazed his right ear while he was sailing in a boat, off the coast in Fort Kochi in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, on Wednesday.

Initially, it was assumed that the bullet was accidentally fired from the Navy’s nearby training facility. However, officials in the Indian Navy asserted that prima facie the bullet was not the one usually used by them. Subsequently, the police and intelligence agencies launched an investigation into the incident.

It assumed significance because the area was under tight security last week, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other top central government officials were present for the commissioning of indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

The injured fisherman was identified as 70-year-old Sebastian, a native of Chellanam in Kochi. He told the media that he collapsed after something struck him when he was returning home after a fishing excursion. The injury to his ear was noticed by others on board the boat.

The incident occurred when the boat was about one and a half kilometres away from the shore. Sebastian was immediately taken to a hospital; the bullet was recovered from the boat. Sources in the hospital said that his injury was not serious, as the bullet struck his outer ear.

Fishermen suspected that the firing might have taken place from the nearby INS Dronacharya training centre, where firing training usually takes place.

But a couple of Navy officials, who visited Sebastian in the hospital and inspected the bullet, said the bullet was not the one used by the Navy.

Kochi city police commissioner H Nagaraju told DH that experts were running diagnostics on the bullet, but nothing suspicious had yet come to light.

Sources in the police department said that prima facie the bullet looked like one used by defence forces, and hence, most probably, it must have come from Navy’s training centre.

Usually, the Navy alerts fishermen while carrying out any firearm training. The fishermen alleged that there were no such alerts on Wednesday.