Lankan officials unhappy with probe into guard shooting

A representative of the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission, Chennai, on Sunday expressed unhappiness over the lack of cooperation from the district administration, including the Madurai Central Prison and police officials, in the probe into the death of W C Fernando, treasurer, Sea Street Kupapadu Fishermen Federation, Sri Lanka, is being conducted.

A team from the Deputy High Commission was here to investigate the reason behind the death of Fernando, who was shot by prison guard Devaraj, when the former tried to enter the restricted area of the Madurai Central Prison on Friday. The representatives had asked the prison officers for statutory details, including the reason behind shooting Fernando, the FIR from the Karimedu police station and other case-related details from the Revenue Divisional Office (RDO).

The representatives claimed that the Madurai district authorities told them that they would submit the report only to the State Government. When asked, District Collector S S Jawahar said that the administration was lending all possible help to the officers of the Deputy High Commission offices. “The administration is ready to furnish all the required information related to the case,” he added.

Meanwhile, brother of W C Fernando Jude Norman Fernando, came to claim the body from Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on Sunday.