Bengaluru: Is the forest department involved in a cover- up to protect some influential persons, who were in a SUV that illegally entered the BRT tiger reserve in Chamarajanagar district and toppled over after hitting a gaur?
It is claimed the forest department set the vehicle on fire inside the tiger reserve to protect those involved in the accident, which allegedly took place on August 14.
It is said that a Toyota Fortuner, registered in the name of Mrs Sulochana Ramesh of Indiranagar entered the forest from the Honnameti gate and was proceeding to the Punajur gate late in the evening when it hit a gaur and toppled over.
It is claimed the forest officials let three of the passengers go and only detained Mr Shivananda Swamy, although the three were shown as absconding in the FIR filed later.
The vehicle lay in the forest for two days and on August 17 was gutted in a fire. In a memo filed before the JFMC court, Chamarajanagar, the officials said the vehicle caught fire due to a short circuit.
But some claim they set fire to it themselves and booked the four only for illegal entry into the forest as an accident involving an endangered species like the gaur would attract a case under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
When contacted, PCCF (Wildlife) B J Hosmath said he was aware of the accident involving an SUV that had entered the reserve illegally, but had no other information. “I don't know the micro details of the case which is under investigation. How it caught fire is also being looked into,” he said.
