The Kerala Police along with a team of Indian and Italian experts have begun searching the Italian ship Enrica Lexie on Saturday for the weapons allegedly used by the two naval guards in the killing of two Indian fishermen on 15 February.
The high court earlier ordered the seizure of the vessel till Monday.
A Kollam court had earlier this week had permitted police to seize the arms allegedly used to fire at the fishermen. The court had also accepted Italy’s plea to have its representatives present during the ballistic examination.
A court in Kollam, had permitted the police to seize the weapons and accepted the Italians’ plea seeking presence of their representatives during the search and ballistic examination.
“We are happy because Italian experts will be allowed in the probe. This will allow for transparency,” Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan De Mistura said after meeting with officials from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
The Italian Foreign Ministry is to arrive in India on Tuesday, he said.
The Italian government was happy that the marines, presently in police custody, were being treated “very well,” he said.
—PTI