Kasargod, November 9: Terming as gross human rights violation the circumstances that led to the drowning of six sailors of the cargo vessel MT Pratibha Cauvery during the 'Nilam' cyclone off the Chennai coast last week, the family of the deceased sailor Krishna Chandran from Uduma in the district has lodged a complaint with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, K.K. Chandrasekharan, father of Krishna Chandran, urged the Union government to institute a comprehensive probe into the incident and bring to book the culprits.
He said last week's tragedy should be attributed to the lax approach of the shipping company. The company had not taken any steps to ensure the safety of the crew, and now it was trying to attribute the tragedy to the cyclone, whose onset was warned 72 hours in advance.
Recalling the telephonic conversation he had with his son on the previous day of the tragedy, Mr. Chandrasekharan said the company had not paid salary to the crew for the last five months. He also accused the company of ill-treating the crew and depriving them of food and water.
Mr. Chandrasekharan wanted the authorities to register murder case against the shipping firm. He urged the Prime Minister to give a compensation of Rs.1 crore each to the family of the deceased sailors. Copies of the letter have been faxed to Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishan, and P. Karunakaran, MP.
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