Two naval guards of an Italian ship, who had allegedly fired at Indian fishermen, killing two of them off the Kerala coast recently, on Monday were sent to police custody till February 23.

The navy personnel were produced before the Magistrate in Kollam on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, the captain and two crew members of an Italian ship were taken into custody by the southern state's police. They were charged with murder under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code and will be handed over to the Kollam Police for production in court.

On Wednesday, security officials of an Italian cargo vessel, Enrica Lexie, shot dead two Indian fishermen mistaking them as pirates in the high seas off Ambalapuzha in Kerala.

Later they were taken into custody.

Meanwhile, the Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant'Agata has called External Affairs Minister (EAM) SM Krishna over the incident that has triggered a diplomatic row between the two nations.

"External Affairs Minister Shri S.M. Krishna received a call from the Italian Foreign Minister His Excellency Mr. Giulio Maria Terzi di Sant'Agata at 2000 hrs on February 18. The telephonic conversation related to the incident on February 15, 2012 when two Indian fishermen were shot dead by personnel on board the Italian merchant vessel Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala in south-west India," said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement.

"Minister Terzi conveyed his deep regret at the loss of the the lives of the two fishermen and expressed his desire that both countries should work together to find a mutually acceptable procedure to establish the facts beyond any doubt and determine responsibilities," the MEA said.

"External Affairs Minister conveyed to the Italian Foreign Minister that it was unfortunate that innocent lives had been lost which could have been avoided had the naval personnel on board Enrica Lexie been careful and exercised restraint," read the statement.