CHENNAI: A 32-year-old fisherman from Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram was shot dead off the Qatar coast in the Persian Gulf on Monday.
Tamil Nadu Fishermen Association Ramanthapuram district secretary M. Karunamoorthi told TOI that Karthikeyan Thangaraj and three others who were working for a Qatari sponsor were out at sea in their fibre boat when the Qatar Coast Guard shot dead Karthikeyan and detained the others.
Karunamoorthi said his association would on Tuesday submit a petition to the Ramanathapuram district authorities demanding speedy return of the body to India and adequate compensation to the family. They would also demand action against those involved in the shooting.
Diplomatic sources in the Gulf nation confirmed the death though Qatar officials had not given any written statement. Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust founder president P Justin Antony condemned the shooting and wanted the Centre to ensure that Karthikeyan’s family ‚Äî his wife Ezhuvakkal, daughter Karishma and sons Thirumurgan and Balamurugan ‚Äî received adequate compensation.
In May 2013, Thomas Soosai, a 47-year-old fisherman from Kanyakumari district, was shot dead off the Bahrain coast by Iranian pirates, Indian diplomats in the Gulf state said. Soosai and six other employees of a Manama-based company were on a fishing trip when the pirates struck.
In July 2012, Sekar, a 27-year-old fisherman from Thoppuvalasai village in Ramanathapuram district was shot dead by US naval ship Rappahannock off Jebel Ali in Dubai, UAE.
Via: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
