Three men residing near the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka were allegedly shot dead by forest department officials early Saturday morning. While forest authorities claimed the men were poachers who opened fire on patrolling staff, the victims’ families have refuted the allegations, asserting the men were merely searching for missing cattle. The families have demanded an independent inquiry into what they call a staged encounter.
The incident occurred around 5 am Saturday in the Hanur forest range of the sanctuary. Southern Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) M B Boralingaiah identified the deceased as Antony Swamy, 50, John Rose Peter, 42, and Kumar Sawariyappan, 35, all residents of Thomiyarpalya and neighbouring villages in Hanur taluk. A fourth man, Joseph Mahima Das, 44, survived the incident with minor injuries.
Addressing the media, IG Boralingaiah said the Hanur police registered a murder case based on a complaint filed by Antony Swamy’s wife Mary.
According to forest officials, the group was suspected of poaching and was carrying at least 2 kg of wildlife meat. Officials claimed the men opened fire on patrolling vehicles when intercepted, forcing forest personnel to retaliate in self-defence.
However, the complaint filed by Mary tells a completely different story. She claims that two of the family’s cows went missing after grazing on Friday. Around 6.30 pm, Antony and three others set out to locate the missing cattle.
After searching into the night, the group rested on a rock inside the forest, roughly 4 km from their village. They heard a loud noise around 2 am Saturday but paid little attention to it.
Mahima Das stated that forest officials approached them without provocation between 3 am and 5 am and opened fire indiscriminately, killing three men while he managed to escape.
As news of the deaths spread, enraged villagers rejected the forest department’s narrative, insisting the victims were not poachers and carried no firearms. Protesters later stormed the Shagya forest office in Hanur, damaging furniture, equipment, a motorcycle, and the office signboard.
On Sunday, as the bodies were shifted to the K R Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examinations, a large crowd of family members and residents gathered outside demanding justice.
Following the unrest, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar ordered a magisterial inquiry into the shootout. “Complete information will be made available after the probe. Several witnesses have been questioned, and items including firearms have been seized.”
Dinesh Kumar Meena, Assistant Commissioner of the Kollegala sub-division, confirmed that an inquiry is underway. “The Deputy Commissioner has requested a detailed report within a week. We have inspected the site and gathered initial inputs while awaiting formal reports from the police and forensic agencies.”
