CHENNAI: The bodies of five fishermen, including a 47-year-old man from Royapuram, washed ashore near Ongole in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. One of them, S Mohan, was identified through a jersey bearing his name and a tattoo of his grandson’s name on his right forearm. Two other fishermen among the five have also been identified as A Murugan (48) of Tondiarpet and C Vijayakanth (44) of Thiruvottiyur.
Mohan’s younger brother and another relative have left for AP to complete the identification formalities. The bodies have been taken to a government hospital in Prakasam.
The jersey had been a gift from his son-in-law. “I had a jersey printed with his name and gave it to him in June during a local temple festival,” said Saran (30), a fisherman. Mohan last spoke to his daughter Sandhya (26), Saran’s wife, around 3 pm on Tuesday.
Something about that conversation had left Sandhya uneasy. Mohan kept laughing for a long time and did not respond properly when she asked if something was wrong, Saran said. “He then suddenly changed the subject and started talking about other things. He spoke normally and then cut the call. That was the last time he spoke with us.”
After news of the bodies reaching the shore emerged on Thursday, relatives of the nine missing fishers took to the streets, demanding the bodies be brought to Chennai at the earliest and that action be taken against the boat owner, Selvalagan. The protesters later gathered outside the Fishing Harbour police station and confronted the police.
“For the past three days, we have been running from pillar to post to get bits of information about the fishermen. No one from the government came and spoke to us. Now that there have been deaths, everyone has started coming here,” Saran said.
Members of all nine families are travelling to Prakasam to identify the bodies. Minister Marie Wilson visited Kasimedu and accompanied the families on their journey.
Two sons spoke to TNIE over the phone. “He told us he would return in two days and asked us not to worry,” said S Bharath (26), whose father, K Pakkirisamy, is among the missing.
Another son, K Mani Barath (27), is still waiting for news of his father, M Kuppan (48), who remains untraced. Kuppan last spoke to his wife on Monday. When she asked him to return home, the call got disconnected. The family tried calling him, but the call did not go through.
The wife and three-month-old child of A Aravindh (40) of Tondiarpet, another fisher, are also waiting anxiously for the official word on his whereabouts.
