BENGALURU: A group of human rights bodies will send a fact-finding team to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Hanur taluk, Chamarajanagar district, on October 26 and 27 to investigate the August-20 firing involving Forest Department personnel in which three men died. BJP State President BY Vijayendra told TNIE, “It is more than two months after the incident, yet there is so much of opacity about the three deaths, and a thorough and impartial inquiry is necessary. A team of human rights experts visiting the areas is a welcome step. I hope the truth will come out.”
Opposition leader in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanswamy said, “If anyone has broken a rule, there is a law to punish them. How can they open fire on anyone and kill them? There is still a cloud of mystery behind what really transpired that day, and what the government claims. It is indeed laudable that a group of well meaning persons have come forward to find out the real truth.’’
The deceased were Anthony Sami, John Rose Peter and Kumar, also known as Savariyappan. A fourth man, Mahimai Das, was reportedly injured, but escaped, and was taken to a hospital. The forest department claimed that the four men had entered the forest to hunt wildlife, were armed and opened fire at forest personnel, who returned fire in self-defence. However, family members of the deceased said the men were farmers who went into the forest in connection with their livestock and not for hunting.
The rights group said the case should not be seen only as a clash between forest staff and alleged hunters. It must be examined for whether the use of lethal force was “lawful, necessary and proportionate”, and important facts about the encounter have not come to light, it said.
