MYSURU: Tension gripped Hanur in Chamarajanagar district after three men were killed inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday morning.
The incident occurred in the Holemuridatti forest area near Shagya in Hanur taluk in the early hours of Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Antony Swamy, Peter and Kumar, residents of Thomiyarpalya and neighbouring villages in Hanur taluk. Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy said there were four men and one escaped. Two died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at hospital, he added.
Assistant Conservator of Forests, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Mariswamy said forest personnel received information that a group of men had entered the sanctuary illegally and were allegedly hunting wildlife and butchering the meat inside the forest. When the team rushed to the spot and asked them to surrender, they opened fire, triggering the shootout, he said.
‘Poachers’ opened fire first: Official
The men opened fire at the forest personnel using country-made firearms, following which the forest staff retaliated, the forest department claimed. In the ensuing fire from both sides, the three men sustained bullet injuries and died. One of the forest personnel was also allegedly injured, forest officials added. The bodies of the deceased were shifted to the KR Hospital mortuary in Mysuru for a postmortem. Forest officials are examining the weapons used by the deceased and investigating the animal that was purportedly hunted.
The official version, however, was strongly contested by the families of the deceased and villagers, who alleged that the three men were farmers and did not attack the personnel. Ajay Anthony, a relative of the deceased, alleged that the three, who they were in the forest, were shot dead without any provocation. “They were farmers and all three were married with young children. Let the forest department prove that the three men shoot at forest officials. Why was an encounter necessary,” he asked.
After the incident, a group of people allegedly entered the office of the deputy range forest officer at Shagya, near Hanur, and damaged furniture. Chamarajanagar district in-charge minister C Puttarangashetty said he spoke to officials of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and they told him that the three men had gone into the forest for poaching and attacked forest personnel with country-made guns, prompting retaliatory firing.
He and Hanur MLA Manjunath later visited the villagers who had blocked the Hanur-Male Mahadeshwara Hills Road. They demanded the minister to bring the forest personnel responsible to the spot and sought adequate compensation to the families of the deceased.