Forest shootout: victim identified

November 24, 2016 04:53 pm | Updated 04:53 pm IST - Hassan

The police investigating the Forest Department’s shootout, where a suspected woodcutter died on Tuesday night, have identified the deceased with the help of a mobile phone found at the spot. Manje Gowda, son of Basave Gowda, a resident of Mathighatta near Halebidu in Belur taluk was killed in the firing, said the officials.

Forest guard Suresh had opened fire on Tuesday night at the suspected woodcutter in the sandalwood plantation in Tirumala Devara Gudda forest near Salagame village in Hassan taluk. The department has sandalwood plantation spread over 600 ha in the forest. The officials had opened fire after the suspected woodcutters threw stones and sticks at them.

The police found a mobile phone at the spot which helped in identifying the victim. “The police have identified the dead. His relatives have also contacted the police. I hope the police will be able to find all those who entered the sandalwood plantation to cut trees on Tuesday night”, said M.L. Manjunath, Deputy Conservator of Forests.

A similar incident was reported in Ramadevara Halla Forest, a sandalwood reserve, in 2012. A person had died during the police firing. However, the deceased was not traced. “The police gave paper notification and made all efforts to trace his relatives. However, nobody turned up to claim the body”, the DFO said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.