It was a public holiday in Italy on account of Republic Day celebrations on Saturday, but the Italian officials led by the Consul-General Giampaolo Cutillo in Kerala had a busy day getting the Marines out on bail.
The High Court had granted the bail to the two Marines accused in killing of two Indian fishermen on Wednesday last, but the bail was executed only after three days. The Italian side managed to produce two solvent Indian sureties with a combined worth of Rs 4 crore before the Kollam Chief Judicial Magistrate S Santhosh Kumar on Saturday afternoon. The passports of the Marines were also surrendered.
Sureties from Kollam
Overcoming the hindrance of finding two Indian sureties, the Italian authorities managed to find sureties from the city itself. V Jyothikumar of Vallikkeezhu and G Rajmohan of Thevalakkara, both of them city-based builders, stood sureties for the Italian marines.
An Italian company based in Dubai and understandably attached to the Italian military played a key role in finding the sureties.
‘’I agreed to stand as surety following the request of my brother-in-law who is working in an Italian firm in Dubai and I agreed to stand as surety following his request. Rajmohan is a close friend of mine,’’ Jyothikumar told ‘Express’.
The High Court had imposed directives to the sureties, who will not be allowed to leave the state without the court’s permission. While, Jyothikumar considers it as a humanitarian gesture. ‘’There is nothing wrong in standing sureties for the two Italian marines,’’ he said.
A deposit of Rs 4 crore was made at a nationalised bank to furnish bank guarantee before the court on behalf the sureties. The great effort was made to execute the release as early as possible. According to source in the Italian side, the major ‘complication’ they faced was regarding the get a limited validity visa from the Foreign Regional Registration Office.
A team had reached along with the Italian Marines, who were produced before the trail court. Another team left for Kochi immediately after completing the visa formalities.
They managed to reach the CJM court by 3 pm. After completing the formalities ate CJM court, they had to produce the order executing the bail to the District and Sessions Court, to file an application to recall the production warrant issued against the Marines.
By 6 pm, the Italian officials and lawyers left Kollam to Borstal School, Kochi, in a effort to release them on the day.