Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa y urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Indian embassies in Qatar and Bahrain to make arrangements for sending back the body of an Indian fisherman who was shot dead by the Qatar Coast Guard.

In a letter to Modi, Jayalalithaa said: “I request you to direct the Indian embassies in Qatar and Bahrain to take urgent steps to arrange for the transportation of the body of the deceased fisherman Thiru Karthikeyan and also secure the early release of the other three fishermen.”

She also requested Modi to direct the Indian embassy in Bahrain to take up with the employer company to settle the benefits of Karthikeyan at the earliest.

According to her, four fishermen from Tamil Nadu working for a Bahrain-based company had strayed into Qatari waters and the Qatar Coast Guard opened fire, killing Karthikeyan in the early hours of Sep 21.

The other three fishermen – Aiyyappan, Raju and Samayamuthu – were detained and are now in a jail in Doha.

“It is learnt that the body of the deceased fisherman is also in the custody of Qatari authorities,” Jayalalithaa said.