Published Aug 25, 2026 | 6:27 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 25, 2026 | 6:27 PM
Forest officials claimed that they fired in retaliation, killing three men.
Synopsis: The Hanur forest firing case has been transferred to the CID after postmortem reports indicated that the three men killed in the15 August incident were shot at close range, raising further questions over the circumstances of the firing.
A postmortem examination has prompted the Karnataka police to transfer the probe into the 15 August killing of three alleged poachers by the state forest department officials in Chamarajanagar’s Hanur area.
The postmortem examination indicated that the men were shot at close range, contrary to the forest department’s version.
Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police MA Saleem ordered the transfer of the investigation to the CID, even as the Opposition BJP has demanded a CBI probe.
Four FIRs connected to the incident — two registered in Hanur and one each in Ramapura and Kollegala — will now be investigated by the agency. Chamarajanagar police have been directed to hand over all case records and related documents to the CID.
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The postmortem findings have added to questions surrounding the circumstances of the shooting, with the forest department and the victims’ families giving conflicting accounts of the incident.
The three deceased have been identified as Anthony Swamy (50), John Rose Peter (43) and Sebastian David Kumar (35). Joseph Mahima Das, who was also present during the incident, survived.
The forest department has been maintaining that its personnel fired in retaliation after suspected poachers opened fire during an anti-poaching operation in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy told the legislature that three rounds were fired from a single slide-action shotgun issued to a forest guard.
The victims’ families and survivor Mahima Das disputed the forest department’s version, claiming the men had entered the forest in search of missing cattle and that forest personnel opened fire. Hanur police subsequently registered a murder case against unnamed forest personnel.
A separate magisterial inquiry into the firing is already underway under Kollegala Sub-Divisional Officer Dinesh Kumar Meena.
The incident has also triggered protests and a political row. Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Monday, 24 August, questioned the circumstances of the firing and demanded that the postmortem findings be made public.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
