Tamil Nadu leaders visit victims’ kin, offer compensation

MYSURU: The killing of three suspected poachers in an alleged shootout with Karnataka Forest Department personnel in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar has now acquired an inter-state dimension, with political parties and leaders from Tamil Nadu stepping into the controversy.

A day after Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay made a statement condemning the killing and Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessing robust demands from members across political parties for a high-level investigation into the deaths, a delegation of political leaders from different parties met the families of the three deceased at Thomiyarapalay in Hanur.

Leaders led by ex-MLA Veluswamy and others, including Venkateswaran and Dharmapuri PMK district president Manjunath, visited the village and discussed about the compensation provided by the Tamil Nadu administration to the Tamil-Origin residents living on the Karnataka side of the border.

Former MLA Veluswamy said the party would continue to pursue the matter until justice was delivered. The PMK delegation subsequently held a meeting at Thomiyarpalya Church to discuss its next course of action. The leaders said they would urge the state administration to provide additional compensation and administration jobs for them.

The visit has added a new political layer to an already sensitive situation along the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border amidst the Cauvery problem, where communities on both sides have historically shared social, linguistic and livelihood links. The region’s history is inseparable from the decades-long activities of sandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher Veerappan, whose operations extended across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.