Family of sailor killed in ‘missile strike’ moves Bombay high court to get his body

MUMBAI: Amratlal Solanki (64) and Mitali Solanki (33), the father and sister of seafarer Dixit Solanki (32), who was killed in a suspected missile attack on merchant vessel MKD Vyom off the Oman coast on March 1, have petitioned Bombay high court alleging the Central govt's inaction in repatriating his mortal remains.

Their plea seeking redressal will be heard on Monday, April 6, before a division bench headed by chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar.

Solanki, who worked as an oiler in the engine room, is believed to be the first Indian casualty in the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

When contacted, an official from the office of DG Shipping said, "We are coordinating to bring back the remains of Late Shri Dixit to India on priority."

The petition stated "several representations" were made to various authorities, including the President and the Prime Minister, seeking immediate intervention for recovery and repatriation of mortal remains. On March 24, the ship captain asked DG Shipping to seek assistance from the Indian embassy in the UAE to issue the death certificate and repatriate the mortal remains. There was considerable delay of 23 days on the part of the authorities at the UAE to repatriate the mortal remains of the deceased, said the petition filed through advocates SB Talekar and Madhavi Ayyapan.

On March 4, Amrutlal lodged a written complaint with the Sailors' Union of India against the shipping company for its "non-responsive attitude" towards his grievance. On March 30, the Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers informed Solanki's father that they had been constantly following up with the Indian embassy in the UAE; however, unfortunately, no response was yet received from the embassy, the petition said.

The petition said the "Head of Chancery and Consul (RTI, Consular and MADAD), Consulate General of India, Dubai," for the first time informed the petitioners that an information was received from the shipping agency on March 17 that after several attempts in last few days, the team has been able to recover his skeletal remains.

It said that the shipping agency will hand over the recovered remains to Sharjah Police for necessary formalities for issuance of the death certificate but nothing happened.

The petition questioned if the petitioners can be denied receiving the mortal remains of the deceased family member and perform rites guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.