Odisha: Crew member of ship from Indonesia jumps off deck 45 days after drug haul
Paradip Port Authority officials said the Vietnam national, working as third engineer in bulk container MV Debi, jumped into the sea after allegedly slitting his right hand
A crew member of a bulk carrier from where cocaine worth ₹220 crore was seized after its arrival at Paradip port in Odisha in November last year allegedly tried to die by suicide by jumping off the deck on Sunday.
Officials said the Vietnam national, working as third engineer in bulk container MV Debi, jumped into the sea after allegedly slitting his right hand.
“He was rescued and admitted to the Paradip Port Authority Hospital. He was later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for advanced treatment. He might have done this as the crew has been in detention for over one and a half months,” said an official of the Paradip Port Authority.
MV Debi arrived at Paradip port from Gresik Port in Indonesia on November 29. Based on intelligence that a few suspected packets of drugs were concealed in the ship, the customs officers searched the ship during the intervening night of November 30 and December 1.
Twenty-two packets, wrapped and affixed with magnet, were recovered from the cranes of the ship.
The vessel, manned by a crew of Vietnamese nationals, operates under the Asia Pacific Shipping Co Ltd, registered in Panama. Having departed from Gresik Port and en route to Denmark, the ship raised suspicions due to its last port of call.
Customs officials seized more than 20 kg of cocaine from the Panama registered ship, the market value of which is estimated at ₹220 crores. Ten individuals, including three Vietnamese crew members, six crane operators from Paradip port, and a managerial-level employee of a stevedoring agency, are under the scrutiny of probe agencies.