Police to go on high seas for panchanama

The much delayed spot panchnama — one of the major obstacles for the Yellowgate police in their investigation of the hijacking case of Prantalaya-11 is likely to be conducted in the next week. HT reports.

The much delayed spot panchnama — one of the major obstacles for the Yellowgate police in their investigation of the hijacking case of Prantalaya-11 is likely to be conducted in the next week. According to the police, the spot panchanama of Prantalaya 11, which was hijacked in international waters, is important to the investigation procedure.

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The Coast Guard and Indian Navy have agreed to take the officers and five (‘panch’) witnesses to the location where the pirates hijacked the trawler, said police offers investigating the matter.

“In this case, the crime scene is located in high seas which is inaccessible to us. We cannot go there without the help of the navy and the Coast Guard. We have approached them, and the navy and Coast Guard are making the required arrangements,” said Quaiser Khalid, deputy commissioner of police (port zone).

“The Navy has agreed to take us there on a vessel with our equipment of photography etc,” said an officer from the Yellowgate police station.

Twenty-eight pirates from Somalia were arrested by the Yellowgate police after they were handed over by the Coast Guard last Thursday along with 24 hostages who were held captive on Prantalaya-11 for more than nine months.

The police also faced difficulty in establishing the nationalities and the addresses of the pirates as nobody from the Somali embassy have got in touch with the police.