Shivamogga: An accused in judicial custody, escaped from the forest department’s custody in Shivamogga. This comes days after Kalaburagi jail break. The accused, Venkatesh, 36, a resident of Adugodi village in Hosanagar taluk, was booked in 2019-20 for assaulting forest officials. He was recently apprehended following a non-bailable warrant and produced before the Hosanagar JMFC court, which remanded him to judicial custody on Wednesday.However, while being transported to Shivamogga Central Jail the same day, the accused claimed he was hungry. The forest staff stopped the department jeep near Battemallappa Circle to fetch food. Making use of this opportunity, Venkatesh violently assaulted the staff inside the vehicle — forest watcher Ayan Badebhai and anti-poaching camp staff Chakrapani — and fled from the vehicle. Despite intensive search operations, the accused remains at large, police said. DRFO Sunil D Kumbar registered a complaint at the Hosanagar police station.Speaking to TOI, deputy conservator of forests (Kudremukh wildlife division) M Sivaram Babu said, “We have filed a police complaint. We have informed the magistrate about the escape.”
