BENGALURU: Staffers of anti-poaching camps (APCs) at the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) were in for a shock on Tuesday when they returned to their posts after three days. The APCs had been completely destroyed, with officials suspecting that dynamites might have been used to blow them up.
The incident came to light on Tuesday when Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Kumar Pushkar and Head of Forest Force Meenakshi Negi visited CWS, seeking a detailed report of the shootout in the Hanur range. APCs at Minchinahalli in Kothanur zone, Bheemeshwari, Boodikeri and Bandahalli in Hanur zone have been destroyed. According to preliminary investigation, they were blasted using dynamites.
The shootout between forest officials and alleged poachers occurred early on August 15 morning, and three poachers were shot dead. As emotions ran high in villages from where the alleged poachers hailed, the forest staff had abandoned their posts.
They returned to their APCs on Tuesday, only to find them destroyed. The forest officials said they were not sure whether villagers from TN or Karnataka entered into the core zones and other parts of the forest patch and destroyed the posts.
A complaint has been filed with the local police and the investigation is on, a senior forest official said. Apart from APCs, staff quarters and parked vehicles too have been damaged, officials said.
Experts working with the department said, “This shows that forest staffers whose duty it is to stay on the ground and protect the forest ran away. They waited for a senior officer to come and bail them out.”
Officials admitted that this is a first in recent times where the staff left their posts, while mobs entered the forest, destroyed the camps and damaged forest patches. This is also the first in recent times that staffers complained of threat to their lives and left their posts, an official not wanting to be named said.
