CID to probe Karnataka ‘poacher’ killings as autopsy shows close-range firing

The Karnataka Police have ordered a CID probe into the shooting of three alleged poachers in the Hanur region on August 15, according to the Criminal Investigation Department. Postmortem reports revealed that at least one victim had been shot from close range, contradicting the forest department's claims that the shooting occurred from a higher altitude.

The victims—Anthony Swamy, John Rose Peter, and Sebastian David Kumar—were found sleeping in the forest when forest officials opened fire. A fourth man, Joseph Mahima Das, survived the attack. The postmortem report also revealed scorching and singeing of chest hair on Sebastian David Kumar, indicating a close-range gunshot. The forest department claimed that the men were poachers who had entered the sanctuary from nearby villages, but the investigation is now being handled by the CID amid Opposition BJP demands for a CBI inquiry and calls for compensation for the families of the deceased.