Karnataka forest dept 'killing' three 'Tamils' echoes in TN Assembly

CHENNAI: The "killing" of three "Tamils" by Karnataka forest department echoed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday with the members moving a "call attention" motion demanding a high-level probe into the forest department firing incident.

The Tamils - Anthony Samy, John Rose Peter, and Kumar, who lived in the villages in Hanur Taluk of Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka, were shot dead by the forest department in the early hours of August 15, in the Cauvery Wildlife sanctuary area.

Following the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay strongly condemned the alleged brutal killing and said the explanation given by the Karnataka forest department regarding the incident is "unacceptable".

A fair investigation should be conducted by a high-level committee on the heinous incident, the Chief Minister had said in a social media post late on Sunday.

Raising the issue, former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed that the victims' families had stated that the Karnataka forest department allegedly shot and killed three men while a fourth individual is currently receiving medical treatment for injuries at a government hospital in Mysore.

While officials claimed the victims were involved in deer poaching, the families allege that this is a conspiracy and that the victims were innocent civilians, Palaniswami said and urged the government to pursue a CBI investigation into the matter to uncover the truth, noting that the location of the incident sits on the border of two states.

He criticised the compensation amount of Rs 5 lakh offered by the Karnataka government to the victims' families as insufficient and stressed that Tamil Nadu government should provide additional support to the families and to engage with the Karnataka government to prevent such incidents from recurring.

DMK MLA Manoj Pandian labelled the incident as a "fake encounter" and a "grave human rights violation," asserting that the farmers were unarmed and merely searching for their cattle when they were killed. He demanded a formal judicial inquiry into the incident and insisted that murder charges should be filed against the forest officials involved.

Pandian questioned whether the forest department followed Supreme Court guidelines, noting that they failed to report the death to the National Human Rights Commission and argued that the Tamil Nadu government should exert pressure on the Karnataka government to provide compensation and employment to the affected families and to ensure such incidents do not recur.

Congress member Tharahai Cuthbert strongly condemned the "encounter" and rejected the compensation offered by the Karnataka government as inadequate. She demanded a formal CBI investigation into the incident and support for victims.

In his reply, Energy Resources and Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar said Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had already ordered a magisterial enquiry into the death of the killing and announced an interim relief of Rs 5 lakh each to the affected families.

The bodies were handed over to their families following postmortem on August 17 for conducting the last rites.

"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had strongly condemned the incident and sought an impartial probe by a high level committee. The Chief Minister extended his heartfelt condolences, and had said Karnataka's explanation was not acceptable," the Minister said.