Thaindian News

Chennai, July 17 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to secure compensation to the families of Indian fishermen killed and wounded by the US Navy off Dubai.

She also told the prime minister to ask the US and Dubai authorities to conduct an enquiry into the firing Monday that left one Indian fisherman dead and at least three injured.

Condoling the death of A. Sekhar, she announced a solatium of Rs.500,000 to his family and Rs.50,000 to the families of the three injured fishermen.

In a letter to Manmohan Singh, the chief minister said: “I also request you to ensure that due compensation is paid to the families of the deceased and injured fishermen.”

She said Indian embassy officials should be asked to render all medical and other assistance to the injured.

On Monday evening, Sekhar was killed and M. Panduvanathan, K. Muthukannan and R. Muthumaniraj were injured when naval personnel on board USNS Rappahannock, a fuel re-supply ship, opened fire on a small motor vessel near Jebel Ali port off Dubai.

According to Jayalalithaa, the four fishermen, hailing from Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, had gone to Dubai to work in a fishing boat.

She said the four were reported to have been engaged in fishing in a civilian vessel at Jabel Ali, a frequent docking point for American naval vessels.

Jayalalithaa recalled the shooting of two Indian fishermen in the sea off Cochin in February by Italian security personnel and New Delhi’s efforts to obtain compensation for their families.

Meanwhile, DMK president M. Karunanidhi, opposition leader A. Vijayakant of the DMDK and Vaiko of the MDMK strongly condemned the killing of the fisherman.

Karunanidhi also demanded compensation to the affected families, and the arrest of those responsible for the shooting.