Indian captain of Erika denied bail
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

PARIS, DECEMBER 17: A French court has refused bail for the Indian captain of the ill-fated Erika tanker, which submerged off French coast last Sunday, while detaining three other Indian crew members for further investigation, sources said today.

French authorities formally charged Captain Kirun Mathur Sundar of the Erika tanker in a Paris court yesterday for "endangering the lives of the crew members and for causing maritime pollution."

The judge refused to grant bail to the 36-year-old mathur, who hails from Jaipur in Rajasthan and was shifted to a prison in the suburbs of Paris last evening.

"Three other Indian crew members have been asked not to leave the country and they are now staying in a hotel under police watch in the western town of Brest," the sources said.

The remaining 22 crew members returned to India yesterday.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.