By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Even as Italy makes hectic efforts for an amicable resolution of the arrest of its two Marines for shooting two Indian fishermen dead, Kerala Police Friday said the ballistic examination of the weapons seized from the Italian vessel will take at least one week more.
Seven Italian rifles were seized from “Enrica Lexie” after the Kollam court issued a search warrant.
The court ordered the seized weapons be sent for ballistic examination and by now test firings have also been done.
However, a police official said the process will take one week more, at the minimum.
A two-member Italian team has also been allowed to be present at the time of the ballistic examination.
The two Marines — Latorre Massimillano and Salvatore Girone — were Feb 20 sent to custody by a court in Kollam.
Making efforts to resolve the matter is Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan de Mistura, currently staying in a hotel here along with a few officials.
So far, his efforts to have an ‘open’ audience with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy appear not to have been successful, and Mistura, while giving interviews to the Italian media, is not very keen to speak to the local media.
Meanwhile, Chandy has emphasised that the law will take its course and there has been no problems in the diplomatic relations between the two countries over this incident.
He has also said that it is for the police to decide if the two Italians need be shifted out from the prison.
The court, while sending the Marines to judicial custody, had noted that if the Italians have to be shifted, the court should be informed.
It also allowed Italian officials to meet the duo in jail every day for an hour between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.