The preliminary investigation of the SIT found that the boat was operating without proper safety equipment.
Published May 10, 2023 | 1:09 PM ⚊ Updated May 10, 2023 | 1:16 PM
The boat that capsized in Tanur. (Screengrab)
The absconding Srank (driver) of the ill-fated boat that capsized on 7 May in Tanur, in the Malappuram district of Kerala, leading to the deaths of 22 people, was taken into custody, police said on Wednesday, 10 May.
Police sources said he was taken into custody from Tanur, and his arrest would be recorded soon.
“He had been absconding after the tragedy. He is now under custody,” a senior police officer told PTI.
The owner of the boat has already been arrested, and murder charges were slapped against him on Tuesday after police nabbed him from nearby Kozhikode.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Kerala police on Tuesday, has found that the boat was operating without proper safety equipment.
DGP Anil Kant appointed Malappuram District Police Chief Sujith Das S as head of the 14-member team, according to an official statement.
Lessons ignored. (South First)
Police had said they were yet to confirm the total number of staff, who were present in the boat when tragedy struck. They also said their arrest would be made in the coming days.
They also said the boat, Atlantic, was operating without following the rules. Though an application was given by the boat owner for its registration, the process was not complete.
According to sources, the boat which had 40 people on board during the incident had applied applied for a permit to carry 22 people.
The rules governing inland water transport in the state clearly state that the rides could be operated only from sunrise to sunset, but the accident occurred at 7.30 pm, almost an hour after sunset.
While announcing a judicial probe into the tragedy on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said that an SIT of the Kerala police would also probe the matter.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday termed the boat accident as “shocking” and “haunting”, and initiated a PIL on its own to find out why the authorities allowed the vessel to operate while allegedly flouting rules.
A bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Shoba Annamma Eapen said their “hearts are bleeding” and they “underwent sleepless nights” after seeing the lifeless bodies of the children.
The court said the accident happened as a result of “the deadly cocktail of callousness, greed and official apathy”.
The court said it was initiating the petition on its own to ensure that such an incident does not happen ever again.
The bench noted that such boating tragedies were happening in the state with “frightening regularity” since 1924, when Kerala lost Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, one of the triumvirate of poets of Kerala when a boat from Kollam to Kottayam sank at Palana.
The court also directed the district collector to file a preliminary report of the incident by Friday.
It verbally noted that compensation should be extracted from the officials responsible for the incident
The boat capsized near an estuary close to the Thoovaltheeram beach in the Tanur area at 7.30 pm on Sunday, 7 May.
According to district officials, 15 of the deceased were minors aged eight months to 17 years, and there were 37 persons onboard the vessel.
In all, 12 members of a family were among the 22 people killed.
(With PTI inputs)
