DMK Raises Killing of 3 Tamils by Karnataka Forest Staff in TN Assembly

The opposition DMK raised the issue of three men, claimed to be Tamils, being killed by the Karnataka forest department in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in Chennai on Tuesday. The opposition sought to know the measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government to ensure justice for the affected families.

Raising the issue in the House, Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin claimed that the post-mortem report of the deceased—Anthony Samy, John Rose Peter, and Kumar—indicated that they were tortured and shot at very close range. He stated that the three individuals suffered severe injuries, including broken bones, and described the incident as a brutal killing.

Udhayanidhi questioned the actions taken by the state government to condemn the incident, asking whether the administration had sought an explanation from the Karnataka government. He further asked if Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had raised the matter during the Southern Zonal Council meeting, or if Tamil Nadu's condemnation had been personally conveyed to Karnataka counterpart D K Shivakumar.

Demanding a high-level enquiry into the incident, the Leader of Opposition also called for measures to provide necessary legal assistance to the families of the three deceased men.

Responding to the remarks, Speaker J C D Prabhakar stated that a state minister had already delivered a reply when Opposition parties previously raised the matter in the Assembly on August 18. The Speaker added that a detailed reply would be provided by the Law Minister soon.

This marked the second time within a week that the deaths echoed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The three men, who lived in villages in Hanur Taluk of Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district and were alleged to be poachers, were shot dead by the Karnataka forest department in the early hours of August 15 within the Cauvery Wildlife sanctuary area. Political parties in Tamil Nadu have maintained that the deceased were Tamils.