Hurricane forecast ignores barge P-305 captain, police file crime

New Delhi, May 21, 2021, Friday

Mumbai Police has registered a complaint against Captain Rakesh Ballav of Barge P305, which sank in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai during the hurricane.

A special team has also been formed to probe the case. Police say it is necessary to take the captain's statement in the case. He is accused of endangering people's lives at the time of the incident and fleeing. The captain was also accused by the ship's chief engineer Rahman Sheikh of negligence.

Hundreds of lives were in danger due to the captain's negligence, Sheikh said. Because the captain did not deliver the barge to a safe place despite the weather department's alert. Had the captain not taken the weather forecast seriously, such a catastrophe would not have occurred.

So far, 51 people have been killed in the case. A Navy official said the rescue operation was still ongoing. 24 people are still missing. The investigation into the captain and others is still ongoing.

Barge P305 sank amid waves surging in the Arabian Sea on May 17 due to a hurricane. In which 51 people have died. The death toll would have been much higher if the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard had not carried out the rescue operation amidst the risk to life. The Navy and Coast Guard rescued 180 people.