Fourth accused who fled the Karnataka's Chamrajnagar forest firing that left three dead, releases videos
The foruth man who fled during an alledged exchange of fire with the Karnataka Forest Department personnel has released a video message from an undisclosed location. The firing left dead three men from Tamil Nadu, all the men are accused of being part of a poaching ring.
In the purported video which is being widely circulated on social media platforms, Mahimadas, said to be the fourth accused in the case, claimed that the gunfire happened around 5.30 am. According to him, the Forest Department personnel started firing suddenly and that he escaped from the spot out of fear.He claimed that since he was unwell, he went home and later got admitted to a hospital for treatment."I was feeling very unwell, and I was running around in a panic. Somehow, I slowly made my way back home and then came to the hospital," he claimed in the video released on Tuesday.
Mahimadas further claimed that the Karnataka Forest department personnel were on the lookout for him, trying to make him a witness in the shootout incident, and he was worried.He also appealed to the police to provide him suitable protection in this regard.There was no immediate response from the Karnataka Forest Department.The fatal incident occurred early on August 15 in the dense forest area under the Shagya range falling under the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary when forest personnel, acting on information about poaching activities, were involved in an alleged exchange of fire with the suspected poachers.
Meanwhile the killing of three Tamils by the 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".
(With PTI Inputs)
