Aim is to bring awareness among villagers about Wildlife Acts and their implications
A file photo of the Palar checkpost after it was ransacked by villagers from Tamil Nadu last week –DC
Mysore: Forest officials from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are thinking of holding talks with villagers along the border to defuse continuing tension near Palar following the death of a suspected poacher, Palani, who was allegedly shot dead by Karnataka foresters in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.The talks are being planned near Govindapaadi, Palani’s hometown. Sources in the Karnataka Forest Department said that the talks are being planned for October 30 or 31.
“The aim is to build confidence and bring awareness among the villagers about wildlife acts and their implications. There are several gullible people in these villages near Palar who fall prey to the poachers’ network. It doesn’t mean that all the villagers on the border are poachers, but there some elements who are trying to create tension and benefit out of it,” a top ranking forest official said.
Another reason for proposing talks is to start the investigation into the incident of rioting near Palar after Palani’s body was found. The foresters will make efforts to identify the villagers who
rioted based on video evidence.
“The meeting will also make sure that the arrests in the future would not trigger tension in the area,” the official said. Palani’s body was found in a highly decomposed state in Cauvery River near Palar on October 24, three days after the alleged shootout in the reserve. His family claims he went into Cauvery wildlife for fishing, but Karnataka forest officials say he and two others had hunted two Sambar deers.
There is a huge trust deficit between forest officials and villagers along the border. Palani’s family has preserved his body for a second autopsy in case the postmortem submitted by Karnataka doctors comes adverse. Mettur MLA S.R. Parthiban of DMDK has met the family of Palani and expressed his condolences. He alleged that the Karnataka Forest Department had murdered Palani and requested the TN government to announce adequate compensation to the family of the deceased.
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