A Forest Department worker on patrol duty died while confronting nearly a dozen miscreants engaged in illegal fishing in the Kabini backwaters, bordering the Bandipur-Nagarahole belt, in the early hours of Saturday. The deceased was identified as Mahesh, 26. Another forest worker, Shivakumar, 33, is missing.
The two were part of a patrolling squad that came under attack during an operation to remove nets cast for illegal fishing in the Gundre range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The backwater has a vast span and constitutes a natural boundary of both Nagarahole and Bandipur. The incident took place in the Bandipur jurisdiction.
T. Balachandra, Conservator of Forests and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu that the field staff received information late on Friday night about illegal fishing in the Kabini backwaters.
A team comprising Deputy Range Forest Officer Kumaraswamy, forest guard Mahadev, forest watcher Manju, caretaker Mahesh, Shivakumar, and a few outsourced employees reached the spot and encircled the area. They discovered fishing nets laid in the backwaters and, after determining that the area was secure, began to dismantle them.
Surprise attack
The patrolling squad were taken unawares when more than a dozen persons, who were hiding on the other side of the river bank, suddenly appeared using coracles and attacked the forest guards.
Heavily outnumbered, the forest staff retreated and four of the guards got on to another coracle to withdraw from the scene. But in the melee, the coracle capsized even as the miscreants, who fired in the air to scare the patrolling team, escaped under the cover of darkness. Of the four guards on the coracle, Mahadev swam to safety. A reinforcement team was sent from D.B. Kuppe range and it rescued one of the others, Bomma, who was stranded on the opposite side of the river bank. A search operation was launched to trace the other two, and the body of Mahesh was recovered in the process. Officials said Mahesh was a good swimmer but got entangled in a net.
But despite pressing expert divers and swimmers into service, there was no trace of Shivakumar till Saturday evening, when the search was called off for the day. Mr. Balachandra said the search would resume on Sunday morning. Sniffer dogs too were pressed into service, but heavy rain washed away all traces of scent and the authorities failed to get any substantial lead.
Meanwhile, local villagers, mainly tribals, expressed apprehension over the developments and demanded an inquiry.
