Hanur shoot-out: People’s Legal Forum seeks high-level probe

People’s Legal Forum has sought a high-level inquiry into the death of three persons in the shoot-out at Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Hanur taluk early on Saturday.

The forum director and advocate, Baburaj Palladan, observed that the victims were locals who used to enter the forests for their rights enshrined under the Forest Rights Act and Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act.

Claiming that the Forest Department office-holders knew the deceased and their addresses for a long time, Mr. Baburaj questioned the immediate shifting of the dead bodies from the forest for post-mortem without giving intimation to the jurisdictional police.

“No spot mahazar had been carried out,” he claimed in a press statement while alleging that the guidelines of the Supreme Court and Human Rights Commission had not been complied with.

“There was no such grave situation to force the forest officials to shoot them to kill,” he stated while stating that a high-level inquiry is required to bring the erring officials to book.