On October 18, one of the mechanised boats owned by Suresh of Kottaipattinam in Pudukkottai was rammed by a Sri Lankan Navy’s fast track craft for reportedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). In the impact, R Rajkiran (30), one of the inmates of the boat, went missing. Two fishermen S Sugandan (30) and A Xavier (32), who were struggling for life in the sea, were secured by the SL Navy and were taken to the island nation.

Two days later, the body of missing Rajkiran was retrieved by the SL Navy and handed over to the Indian Coast Guard on October 23. It was brought back to TN the same day and buried at Kottaipattinam.

Meanwhile, Brindha, wife of the deceased fisherman, raised doubts over the cause of death after spotting injuries on the body and submitted a petition to the Pudukkottai Collector Kavitha Ramu on November 3 claiming that Rajkiran should have been shot dead by the SL Navy and demanded a re-post mortem.

Subsequently, Brindha had approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court appealing for a re-post mortem. Justice GR Swaminathan, who heard the plea, ordered the Pudukkottai revenue department to perform a re-autopsy and submit a report.

Based on the court direction, the body of Rajkiran was exhumed on Thursday in the presence of Manamelkudi Tahsildhar Raja and was sent to the Pudukkottai Medical College Hospital. The forensic officials were tightlipped on the results to submitted to HC on November 24.