Mysuru: A magisterial inquiry into a forest shootout in which three villagers were killed commenced on Sunday, with Kollegal assistant commissioner Dinesh Kumar Meena, who is appointed as the inquiry officer, visiting the incident site in Shagya forest. He gathered information about the circumstances leading to the firing.The development came as the families of the three deceased and villagers withdrew their protest in Hanur after local MLA MR Manjunath announced Rs15 lakh compensation—Rs10 lakh from his personal funds and Rs5 lakh each from state govt—and assured them that forest officials found guilty would be suspended.Earlier in Saturday’s shooting, Anthony Swamy, 50, a farmer from Marimangala; John Rose Peter, 42, a farmer from Jagannathadoddi; and Kumar, 33, a heavy earth machine operator from Lasadoddi died.The postmortem examinations of all three bodies were completed at KR Hospital in the city on Sunday amid protests and high drama at the mortuary even as police continued to station heavy police deployment at Hanur town in Chamarajanagar district. IGP (Southern Range) MB Boralingaiah is camping in the area supervising the security arrangements.Relatives of Peter had initially refused to give consent, demanding the arrest of the forest personnel who had fired at the villagers.Margaret, Peter’s sister, alleged that the family was misled about the inquest and their consent was obtained. “Our only demand is to immediately arrest the foresters for the crime they have committed,” said Margaret, a nurse. Another relative alleged that the deceased were being portrayed as poachers to justify the killings and demanded that all those responsible be brought to book.BJP state chief seeks impartial probeCondemning the fatal encounter in Hanur taluk, state BJP chief BY Vijayendra told reporters in Shivamogga that a thorough and impartial probe should be conducted into the incident. He asked the state govt to provide adequate compensation for the families of the deceased.It is alleged that officials’ inefficiency led to the incident.Chamarajanagar district police persuaded them to allow the postmortem around 3 pm on Sunday, assuring them that forest minister Ramalinga Reddy had spoken to their representatives and promised stringent action if any forest officials were found to have acted wrongly.Three special tahsildars from Chamarajanagar conducted the inquest and video-recorded the proceedings. A tahsildar said the inquest was conducted following directions from Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner Srirupa.The shootout occurred around 5am on Saturday in Chikkalluru Reserve Forest area under Holemuridatti patrol limits of Shagya forest range in Hanur wildlife zone. Forest officials claimed that an encounter took place between suspected poachers and forest personnel, resulting in the deaths.Meanwhile, a Mysuru-based activist and advocate, N Punith, has approached Karnataka State Human Rights Commission seeking a suo motu inquiry into the incident. He has urged the commission to visit the spot, investigate the circumstances leading to the deaths and ensure justice for the families.The petition alleges that the killings prima facie raise serious questions of illegality and human rights violations. It argues that if the deceased were indeed poachers, legal action could have been initiated against them instead of resorting to firing, and seeks an impartial investigation into the conduct of the forest officials.
