CID to probe Karnataka ‘poacher’ killings as autopsy shows close-range firing

The three victims—Anthony Swamy, 50, John Rose Peter, 43, and Sebastian David Kumar, 35—were residents of villages bordering the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.

One of the cases is an FIR against unidentified forest officials based on a complaint by Lourde Mary, wife of Anthony Swamy. Citing an eyewitness account, the complaint alleges that personnel shot the three men while they were sleeping in the forest in the early hours of August 15.

A fourth man, Joseph Mahima Das, alias Benjamin, 45, escaped. According to Das, the four men had entered the forest to search for lost cattle and were sleeping when forest personnel opened fire.

The other three cases concern the alleged destruction of forest department property by villagers after the killings.

Firing at close range

According to a postmortem report from the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Sebastian David Kumar had two shotgun bullet entry wounds, unlike the others who had single bullet wounds. A shot fired to the left side of his chest reveals “burning/scorching” and “singeing” of chest hair, which is indicative of a very close-range gunshot.

The bullet’s path was described as “above downwards” in the report.

The findings conflict with the forest department’s claim that the men were shot while they were on a rock at a slightly higher altitude than the forest officials.

A second wound on his right thigh also showed burning, scorching, charring, singeing, and soot deposits around the margins. Its trajectory was recorded as “below upwards,” with the range again described as close.

While John Rose Peter has a shotgun wound on his neck above his collarbone, Anthony Swamy has a fatal wound on the right side of his lower rib cage.

The forest department has claimed that the shooting occurred during an overnight search operation launched on the basis of intelligence that poachers had entered the sanctuary from nearby villages.

“At the time of the incident, the hunters were at a higher point than the department staff at the Karadikalu rocks. Since the hunters were not clearly visible to the department staff, they were shot in the upper part of the waist when the staff retaliated. The staff did not take the action with any malicious intent,” Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy said last week.

The state government had ordered a magisterial inquiry, which identified unanswered questions requiring a criminal investigation.

BJP demands CBI probe, Rs 1 crore compensation

On Monday, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra demanded a CBI probe into the killings.

“Why is there a need to keep the postmortem report confidential? Shouldn’t the people know what the report contains? The government’s failure to release the report itself is giving rise to several doubts,” Vijayendra said. He called for compensation of Rs 1 crore for each bereaved family, along with government assistance and a job for a family member.

“According to expert opinion, this does not appear to be a case in which shots were fired from a long range. There is a possibility that the firing took place from close range. We have information that the doctors who conducted the postmortem have also mentioned this aspect in their report,” Vijayendra said while displaying forensic reports.

“Is this merely an encounter case, or was there some other motive behind it?” There are even discussions in public circles questioning whether this was a government-sponsored killing,” he said.

Forest department’s version

According to the forest department, the operation began around 8 pm on August 14 after officials received actionable intelligence that poachers had entered the forest.

“They fired and we fired,” said Hanur Assistant Conservator of Forests Mariswamy. He said that officials issued a warning, but the suspects did not respond. One suspect allegedly fired, producing a flash, after which the forest personnel returned fire in self-defence, he added.

Officials said they recovered two bags containing about 34 kg of deer meat roughly 75 metres from the shooting site. “It was the meat of the animal they hunted in the night,” he said.

Chamarajanagar Chief Conservator of Forests Malathi Priya said the evidence established that the four men were poachers.

Das, who escaped, said in a video statement recorded after he was admitted to a hospital in Mysuru that he fled after the group encountered forest personnel. He claimed he returned home after hearing no further shots.

A September 20, 1991, government order grants forest personnel immunity from prosecution when they open fire to protect government property or human life. It requires an executive magistrate to conduct an inquiry into every such incident.

Although the Hanur police registered a murder case against unidentified forest officials on August 15 based on Lourde Mary’s complaint, the investigation could not begin while the mandatory magisterial inquiry was pending.

The forest department has not filed a poaching case against the dead men. It has, however, registered cases against villagers accused of vandalising forest camps in Hanur after the shooting.