Marines lodged at Borstal school

KOCHI: The two Italian marines, (chief master) sergeant Massimiliano Latorre and sergeant Salvatore Girone, charged with killing two Indian fishermen, were brought to the Borstal School at Kakkanad, escorted by the Nandavanam Police.An Italian delegation, including Italian Consul-General Giampaolo Cuttilo, also accompanied the marines.The marines, who were lodged in the Pujappura Central Prison, were brought to Kochi after producing them before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Kollam. They will be lodged at the Borstal School, the reformatory for juvenile delinquents, till further development on their bail plea.“Other than the Borstal School staff, four armed police officers will be deployed for security purpose,” said K Anil Kumar, superintendent, Borstal School. However no convicts or undertrial prisoners were lodged here. The BorstalSchool is expected to resume its normal operations by June 1. The marines were brought to Kochi after the Italian Government made a plea to the authorities to shift the mariners from the prison to a guest house. Discussions had been underway for the past one week following the Supreme Court directive to consider the possibility of shifting the accused to another location from the Poojappura Central Jail. The Italian authorities wanted to shift the marines to the guest house at Kollam or the CISF guest house, where they were earlier staying.However, the police opposed the decision, and made it clear that they should be transferred only to an institution under the purview of the jail department, following which the Italian authorities visited Borstal School twice.