Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary: Five Anti-Poaching Camps Blasted With Gelatin Sticks After Poacher Encounter | Video

Bengaluru: In retaliation to the encounter in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary between the forest officials and poachers in the early hours on Aug 15, where three poachers were gunned down, miscreants suspected to be from the villages from both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have blasted anti-poaching camps across the Sanctuary.

Till Wednesday, the forest officials have visited five anti-poaching camps and found that they had been blasted using gelatin sticks, while inspection of another eight anti-poaching camps deep in the forests is still pending.

Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has said that even he had information about the anti-poaching camps being blasted using gelatin sticks and the Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy was looking into the issue. ``A comprehensive investigation has been mooted with regard to the anti-poaching camp, including the involvement of people from neighboring Tamil Nadu in the blasts. After the investigation report comes, I will make a statement,'' he said.

So far, the forest officials have visited Minchanahalli anti-poaching camp in Kothanuru division, Bhimeshwari anti-poaching camp, Ollemarada Hatti and Budigere camps in Hanuru division, Bandehalli anti-poaching camp and Kalidoddi anti-poaching camps, where the camp structures have been blasted using gelatin sticks. The forest officials say that they had reports of blast sounds being heard from the deep jungles, where another eight anti-poaching camps had been set up.

Soon after the shoot out at Tomyar Palya anti-poaching camp, violence erupted at nearby Hanur, where people started blocking roads and vandalised the forest department office. When the mob started turning violent and was baying for the blood of forest department officials, the police intervened and secured the forest department staff and their family members. The police also sent messages to all the anti-poaching camps and asked the staff to vacate the camps and move out of Hanur taluk.

When the situation returned to normalcy on Wednesday morning, the police asked the forest staff to return to their duties. When the department vehicles swent to drop the staff posted at anti-poaching camps, they realised that their camps had been blasted using gelatin sticks.

A senior forest official said that the blasts must have taken place on Aug 16 and Aug 17. After seeing around five to six camps being blasted, the dropping of the staff to the camps had been called off. The local officers had been asked to visit the remaining eight anti-poaching camps and asses the situation there, the officer added.