TN Assembly seeks probe into 3 Tamil men's deaths in Karnataka; DKS rejects CBI probe demand

The deaths of three Tamil men following firing by Karnataka forest department personnel reached the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday (August 18), where legislators demanded a high-level probe into the incident in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary area. However, during the day, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar rejected Tamil Nadu leaders’ demand for a CBI probe in the case.

Anthony Samy, John Rose Peter and Kumar, residents of villages in Hanur Taluk of Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district, were shot dead during the early hours of August 15. A fourth man, identified as Mahimadan, was injured and later admitted to a private hospital.

Tamil Nadu seeks probe into deaths

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay condemned the alleged killings and rejected the explanation offered by the Karnataka Forest Department as “unacceptable”. He had also called for a fair inquiry by a high-level committee and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

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AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the families had alleged that the three men were killed while a fourth person was wounded. Karnataka officials, by contrast, said the group was suspected of deer poaching. They said forest personnel on an anti-poaching operation came under fire and returned fire in self-defence.

Palaniswami said the families maintained that the men were innocent civilians and that the poaching allegation was part of a conspiracy. Since the incident occurred near the boundary between two states, he sought a CBI inquiry to establish what happened. He also criticised the Rs 5 lakh relief announced by Karnataka and asked Tamil Nadu to provide further assistance to the families.

MLAs call for judicial inquiry

DMK MLA Manoj Pandian described the deaths as a “fake encounter” and a “grave human rights violation”. He said the farmers were unarmed and had been looking for their cattle. Pandian called for a judicial inquiry, murder charges against the forest officials, and action over the alleged failure to report the deaths to the National Human Rights Commission.

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Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert also condemned the “encounter”, sought a CBI inquiry and rejected the compensation as inadequate. BJP member Bhojarajan backed an impartial enquiry, saying the deaths had created fear among Tamils living in Karnataka.

Energy Resources and Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar said Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had ordered a magisterial enquiry and announced interim relief of Rs 5 lakh for each family. The bodies were handed over after postmortems on August 17.

Tamil Nadu’s Forest Minister R V Ranjith Kumar later said C Joseph Vijay had announced Rs 10 lakh for each affected family.

Speaker pulls up minister

During the Assembly reply, the Speaker intervened after Nirmal Kumar criticised the opposition. J C D Prabhakar warned ministers against remarks unrelated to the motion. “I caution the Ministers to strictly adhere to the issue being raised by the members in the House while replying and avoid triggering a controversy by making off-the-cuff remarks on unrelated topics.”

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He also told members to remain seated when their party Whip was speaking and later expunged Nirmal Kumar’s unrelated remarks.

Karnataka CM rejects CBI probe demand

Shivakumar, however, rejected demands for a CBI inquiry.

“This is a federal structure. No state should interfere with the administration of any other state,” he said.

“We have to protect whatever sanctity there is of our state,” while saying Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should each handle their own affairs,” added Shivakumar.