MYSURU: The seizure of a pair of brand-new slippers, along with weapons, wildlife meat and other hunting equipment, has raised fresh questions over the August 15 shootout in the forests near Shagya village in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district that killed three men.
The Forest Department claimed that its personnel seized two country-made guns, torchlights, ammunition, hunting equipment and around 20-30 kg of suspected wildlife meat from the alleged poachers, who were shot dead, during the operation.
However, the discovery of a pair of Paragon slippers, reportedly without even the stickers being removed as seen in the photograph available with The New Indian Express, with a time stamp on it stating it being taken at 12.29 pm on August 15, has become a talking point amid questions over the circumstances surrounding the shootout.
The key question raised by the relatives of the deceased and other villagers is whether the slippers were actually worn by the men who allegedly entered the forest for hunting. If they had been used during hunting in the forest, the slippers would not have remained new with no stains of dust or blood on it, they argued.
Seized weapons, meat likely to form vital part of inquiry
There have been conflicting claims over why the three men entered the forest at night. While the villagers maintained that the deceased were in the forest searching for missing cattle, the Forest Department has stated that the three deceased and one other person, who escaped, were hunting wildlife.
The Forest Department stated that around 8 pm on August 14, its officials received information that some people had illegally entered the forest and were hunting wildlife. Two teams of forest officials were deployed and they spotted people moving inside the forest using torchlights.
When the teams reached the Karadikallu Oddu forest area around 5.30 am, the alleged hunters who were hiding at an elevated location opened fire at the forest personnel, the department stated. The shots fired from country-made guns dispersed, resulting in only minor injuries to some personnel. In the retaliatory fire, the three men died, it added.
The Forest Department has produced the seized articles before the inquiry officer -- Sub-Divisional Magistrate Dinesh Kumar Meena. This is part of the evidence to support its version of the incident. Meena visited the Shagya forest area where the encounter took place, the Hanur forest office and anti-poaching camps that were damaged in protests by the villagers.
The Forest Department also produced two bags of approximately 20-30 kg of suspected wildlife meat allegedly seized during the operation. A pair of slippers, a 2-litre cool drink bottle containing around 250 ml of water and other articles allegedly seized from the spot were also presented to him. The department said the seized meat will be sent for examination to determine whether it is wildlife meat.
The seized weapons and meat will likely form an important part of the inquiry, as the villagers, who have protested intensely, alleged that the three men were killed in a fake encounter.
In the protest, seven anti-poaching camps and nine residential quarters were damaged, while furniture and other articles were destroyed. One four-wheeler and four two-wheelers of the department were also damaged. These incidents caused substantial financial loss to the government and separate cases will be registered with the police, the department stated.
Officials said the person who escaped from the spot had cases registered against him under the Forest Act. But the three deceased did not have any previous record of forest-related cases, it stated.
On Monday, Hanur Tahsildar Chaitra visited Tomiyar Palya village and handed over compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on behalf of the taluk administration. MLA Manjunath has also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased from his personal funds.