Bengaluru, Aug 19 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Wednesday opposed the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly over the killing of three alleged poachers in an encounter near Hanur in Chamarajanagar district, saying the issue concerns Karnataka and should be resolved within the state.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Ashoka stated, “The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a resolution. This resolution is an insult to our state. This is an issue concerning Karnataka, and it has to be resolved here.”
He said the deceased were voters in Karnataka and questioned the reported move to provide compensation of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh to their families.
“If they say they will provide Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh as compensation, this is not good culture,” he said.
Ashoka said Tamil Nadu was a neighbouring state and warned against turning the incident into a linguistic issue.
“They are trying to make it an issue of language. Tamil Nadu leaders doing this is not correct,” he said, adding that similar incidents should be handled through appropriate mechanisms between neighbouring states.
The BJP leader, however, said the Karnataka Forest Department’s handling of the incident had raised serious questions.
“The Forest Department’s blunder is evident in this case. Documents are being released every day,” he said.
Ashoka also referred to a video allegedly released by one of the persons who escaped during the incident. According to Ashoka, the person claimed that he was afraid of the police and therefore had not come forward.
He said the developments had created suspicion that the Karnataka government was attempting to suppress facts related to the incident.
“All these developments indicate that the Karnataka government is hushing up something,” Ashoka alleged.
Ashoka said the controversy could have been avoided had the state government conducted a proper inquiry into the incident at the outset.
“If the Karnataka government had conducted an inquiry, this crisis would not have happened. They have given a weapon to the Tamil Nadu government,” he said.
He urged the Karnataka government to order a comprehensive investigation into the encounter and make the facts public.
“I am still urging the government to investigate the case properly,” Ashoka said.
Meanwhile, forest officials involved in the encounter in the Hanur forest area of Chamarajanagar district said they opened fire in self-defence after a group of alleged poachers reportedly fired at them during an operation in the early hours of August 15.
Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Mariswamy said the incident took place at around 5 a.m. on August 15, following information received by forest staff the previous night about torchlight movement and gunshots deep inside the forest.
According to Mariswamy, forest officials formed two teams after receiving the information and launched an operation to locate the suspected poachers. The teams stopped their vehicles and proceeded on foot into the forest.
The personnel climbed Karadikalgudda to monitor the movements of the suspected poachers and subsequently spotted them. The forest staff allegedly warned the group, but the suspected poachers opened fire, following which the personnel fired in self-defence, Mariswamy said.
After the firing stopped, the forest personnel returned to the area and found three persons lying on the ground with bullet injuries.
Mariswamy said the location where the three persons were found was around five kilometres inside the forest from their village. According to him, reaching the spot on foot would require travelling around seven to eight kilometres.
“There was no necessity for them to go so deep into the forest,” Mariswamy said, alleging that the men had entered the forest for hunting in a systematic and organised manner.
The Forest Department also seized several articles from the spot and from the bags allegedly carried by the suspected poachers. These included food items, country-made guns, ammunition and other materials required for hunting.
Mariswamy said the presence of food and other supplies indicated that the group had allegedly planned to remain inside the forest for several days.
“All the materials, including footwear and other items, were found in the bags and have been seized,” he said.
The ACF said the department had also recovered ammunition and other equipment allegedly intended for hunting.
The Forest Department’s account of the incident comes amid demands for a detailed investigation into the deaths of the three persons during the encounter. Opposition parties and leaders from neighbouring Tamil Nadu have raised questions over the circumstances leading to the firing.
Officials have maintained that the forest personnel opened fire only after coming under attack and that the operation was conducted based on information about suspected hunting activity inside the forest.
–IANS
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