The crew of the floating armoury Seaman Guard Ohio have today been acquitted of all charges by the Maduria bench of the Madras High Court, after spending four years in jail.
The 35 seafarers and security personnel were detained aboard the Sierra Leone-registered floating armoury ship by police in Tamil Nadu in October 2013 after it was claimed they had entered Indian territorial waters for bunkering. The police accused the crew of carrying unregistered weapons and making an illicit money transfer for the bunkers. The Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu police, which originally took up the investigation, charged the crew members under a number of acts, including the Arms Act, Indian Penal Code, and Essential Commodities Act.
The crew were convicted in January 2016 and sentenced to five years of
Topic: Judge acquits Seaman Guard Ohio crew of all charges (Read 1982 times)