Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 30 (IANS) Four years after an ill-fated boat sank in the Thekkady wild life reserve in Kerala, killing 45 tourists, the crime branch of Kerala Police is yet to submit the final charge sheet to the court.
The judicial commission under Justice (retd.) E. Moideen Kunju, appointed to investigate the tragedy, has submitted the report to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, indicting the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) for the accident, no action has been taken so far.
The probe report concluded that the boat which had a capacity to carry 76 passengers was overloaded and hence the accident took place.
The commission also blamed those responsible for buying this boat as it did not meet the safety requirements, and found the boat driver was not a professional but amateur.
The crime branch then arrested surveyor K.K. Sanjeev, N.A. Giri, official of the firm based in Chennai that manufactured the boat, Victor Samuel (the driver of the boat), his assistant, a forest guard and M. Mathews, the chief boat inspector.
All of them are currently on bail.