FIR filed against owner of Cyclone Tauktae-hit tug boat Varaprada, others

Yellowgate police station on Thursday night registered a first information report (FIR) in connection with tug boat Varaprada that sank due to Cyclone Tauktae that passed through 180 kilometres off Mumbai coasts last month

Yellowgate police station on Thursday night registered a first information report (FIR) in connection with tug boat Varaprada that sank due to Cyclone Tauktae that passed through 180 kilometres off Mumbai coasts last month. Eleven crew members on board the boat had died in the incident and two were rescued.

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Senior police officers confirmed that an FIR under relevant sections for culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the owner of Varaprada and others, based on the complaint by Francis K Simon, one of the survivors and chief engineer of the tug boat.

Besides Varaprada, barge Papaa 305 also sank near Heera Oil Field in Arabian Sea after being hit by Cyclone Tauktae on May 17. As many as 75 crew members had died in the incident. There were 261 people on board the ill-fated barge, and during the search and rescue operation by Navy and Coast Guard, 186 people were rescued.

Yellowgate police is already investigating a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the sinking of barge Papaa-305. The master of the barge, who died in the incident, has been named as an accused in that case.