He is reminded of the time Veerappan ruled the roost in the area 20 years ago, says Perinayaka, 78. With his son Anthony Swamy among the three alleged poachers killed in an encounter in Hanur in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, he says: “There was violence then and fear, bullets prevailed… Now, after two decades, it is haunting us again. We fear for our lives.”
All the three who were killed, in the wee hours of August 15 – Anthony, 50, his brother-in-law Sebatian David Kumar, 35, and John Rose Peter, 43 – belonged to Mariyamangala, a small hamlet with less than 25 houses located on the fringes of the wildlife sanctuary. The one who survived and a witness to the incident, Joseph Mahima Das, was found admitted to a hospital later, and is now “missing”.
In a video featuring him that emerged on Tuesday evening, Das is seen pleading for help and saying he feared for his life.
As a magistrate-led investigation, mandatory in the case of any encounter, looks into the incident, sources said initial findings, including forensic, indicate that the three were killed by a single shotgun, fired at close range.
John Rose Peter’s family members stand beside a garlanded photo of the victim. (Express photo by Kiran Parashar)
An official told The Indian Express: “A guard carrying a slide-action (pump-action repeater) gun loaded with cartridges (minimum 6 rounds at a time) reacted in panic. He pulled the trigger hard and because he held it down, the weapon discharged all its loaded rounds in rapid succession.”
The families deny the Forest Department’s claim that the men were poachers, insisting they had gone to search for their cattle. While officials claim to have seized two country-made weapons from the men, apart from 34.25 kg of deer meat from near the spot, the families have said the weapons did not belong to the men.
While only Das among the three had previous cases of violation of forest and wildlife laws against him, Anthony’s family members had faced similar cases in the past, sources said.
Mariyamangala, a small hamlet with less than 25 houses, is located on the fringes of the wildlife sanctuary. (Express graphics)
Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Ramalinga Reddy told the state Assembly on Monday that bullets were fired from a single shotgun issued to one of the forest guards. He said the forest staff had tried to convince the poachers to surrender, but they attacked them. “The poachers were at a higher altitude. The forest staff fired three rounds from a slide action gun… Since the hunters were not clearly visible, the bullets hit them in the upper torso,” the minister said, adding that there was “no malicious intent”.
On the injuries suffered by the victims, Reddy said. “The cartridge from this gun consists of small pellets and gunpowder and scatters when fired. This caused injuries to various body parts of the accused.”
Two stories of a night
Officials say that late on August 14 evening, the Forest Department received “actionable intelligence” of poachers entering the forest. A group of 10-15 personnel were assembled and split into two teams to search for the poachers.
Mariswamy, the Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Hanur Wildlife Division, told The Indian Express that the men were there with the “intent of poaching”. “A warning was issued, but they did not pay heed. The suspects fired but it was a misfire, causing a flash. At this time, our people opened fire. If they had not, our staff would have been the victims.”
Adds Mariswamy: “They had items required for hunting. They were also deep inside the forest. What was the need to venture so deep with two country-made weapons if all they were doing was searching for lost cattle?”
With the area still tense, the Forest Department claimed Wednesday that several anti-poaching camps inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary were “blown up” by “miscreants”. (Express photo)
In a video statement released from hospital, before he “disappeared”, Das agreed with this sequence of events, but denied that it was they who fired first. He says he ran away when the foresters opened fire. “After 5 minutes, there was no sound. I was tired, unwell and had a stomach ache so I reached home and got myself admitted to a hospital.”
With the area still tense, the Forest Department claimed Wednesday that several anti-poaching camps inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary were “blown up” by “miscreants”. Mariswamy told The Indian Express that gelatin sticks and dynamite were used to attack the camps.
A hamlet in mourning
Several days after the incident, Mariyamangala remains angry over the killings and tense about police action that may follow.
Anthony’s wife Lourde Mary, who also lost her brother Sebastian in the incident, recalls her conversation with Anthony on August 14 when he left home around 6.30 pm. “Two of our animals had not returned home from grazing, and so after waiting till evening, Anthony left to find them along with my brother and two others.” She says when the men did not return, she didn’t worry as they often stayed away late into the night.
The next morning, Mary told The Indian Express, she got a call informing that Anthony had been “taken away” by forest officials. “Minutes later, some neighbours informed me that he was dead… It was through the media that I got to know that my brother too was dead.”
Mary, who worries for her two sons, one in Class 12 and the other 11, says she was made to run around to locate their bodies. “The officials didn’t inform us about either the killings or where the bodies were kept. Finally, I came to know they were at Mysuru’s K R Hospital.”
Mariswamy says they rushed the men to hospital as they were alive after the shootout. “We took them first to a Kollegal hospital, but the doctors declared they were brought dead. Shifting them to Mysuru was a police decision due to a possible law and order issue.”
Says Anthony’s father Perinayaka: “It was only on August 17, after protests had erupted, that the Forest Department released a statement and a photo of materials that they claimed they had seized. None of what was seized belongs to anyone in our family… Most importantly, no one is telling us what is happening.”
Sebastian’s wife Domini Leo Mary says they had just finished making a house. Their children are 11 and 8. “I am not educated, I don’t know the law,” she says, breaking down.
John, who the family claims was a full-time farmer, was planning a house-warming for his new home on August 25. He leaves behind wife Periyanayagamma and two children, 13 and 11. “My husband would even help out Forest Department officials. Why should someone shoot at him?” Periyanayagamma says.
John’s sister Margarette, who works as a nurse in Bengaluru, says: “I have been in nursing for more than a decade. I handle medico-legal cases… I suspect the men had surrendered and were then shot.”
The wife and daughter of the sole witness, Mahima Das, say they have not seen him since the encounter.
Das was traced by his family members to Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Mysuru after the incident, with photos of Chamarajanagar Congress MLA C Puttarangashetty meeting him going viral. But he has not been seen after that. In hospital records, he is registered as an outpatient.
While the Forest Department says it has registered a case against Das and he is “absconding”, police say he is not in their custody.
Mary says officials have also been dropping in at their house, including late in the night, to ask about Das. “We are scared.”
In the video that came out Tuesday evening, Das says he and the others were sleeping when gunfire erupted around 5 am. “They (the forest officials) walked up to us and started shooting. I froze. When they aimed at me, I just ran towards the town.”
Accusing police of intimidating others to put pressure on him, Das says: “You must look after me and protect me.”
Veerappan’s long shadow
At 156 km in length and 10 km in width, Hanur in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the largest forest sub-divisions in Karnataka. It was here that sandalwood smuggler Veerappan had almost a free run from the 1990s till 2004, when he was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu Police’s Special Task Force.
Since his death, dozens of smaller groups of poachers have emerged from the villages surrounding the forests, inhabited primarily by migrants from Tamil Nadu. They moved into the region after the Mettur dam built on the Cauvery river inundated their villages about a hundred years ago, say Karnataka forest staff.
According to official court records for the Kollegal taluk, under which the Hanur forest falls, over 300 cases have been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act in the last 10 years in the region.
“When Veerappan was present, the STF was present and locals would not venture to hunt in the forest. Now, there is an exponential rise in forest cases,” says S Shashi Bimba, an advocate who has represented several accused in poaching and forest cases.
The previous such “encounter” killing of poachers in the region was in 2023, when two were shot dead in the Palar region.
As Mariyamangala’s residents seek answers, the fact that they are Tamil-speaking keeps coming up in conversations, the implication being that they remain “outsiders”. Among the politicians who have visited the families, a majority have been from Tamil Nadu.
That has been another flashpoint. In a post on X, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay Joseph called the incident a “massacre” and demanded “justice” for Tamil people. Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar retaliated saying that Tamil Nadu leaders should not interfere in the state’s affairs.
Anthony Swamy’s wife Lourde Mary (right) said, "Two of our animals had not returned home from grazing, and so after waiting till evening, Anthony left to find them along with my brother and two others." (Express photo by Kiran Parashar) 
John Rose Peter’s family members stand beside a garlanded photo of the victim. (Express photo by Kiran Parashar)
Mariyamangala, a small hamlet with less than 25 houses, is located on the fringes of the wildlife sanctuary. (Express graphics)
With the area still tense, the Forest Department claimed Wednesday that several anti-poaching camps inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary were “blown up” by “miscreants”. (Express photo)
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