Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 17: A person lost his life in an exchange of fire between forest staff and poachers in Cheelandawadi forest area of Cheelandawadi Cauvery Wildlife zone in the early hours of Thursday March 16.

The deceased was Gurumurthy (23), resident of Doddalahalli in Kanakapura taluk. Angered by the incident, relatives of the deceased destroyed the forest department building near the check post at Bendagoodu and torched an auto rickshaw parked on the road.

When protesters arrived near the check post, forest staff ran away to safety, it is said. Some protesters caught hold of some staff who were escaping, and beat them up.

District superintendent of police, Ramesh Bhanot, arrived on the spot and brought the situation under control. The protesters kept the body of their deceased relative on national highway in front of the forest office and staged protest.

Range forest officer, Shivaram, said that there is confusion about how Gurumurthy died. "The department got information about hunting trip on Wednesday night. When teams of forest department staff chased the hunters, the hunters dispersed, and at the same time, continued to fire from their guns. It is difficult to say whose bullet killed Gurumurthy. The hunters had killed a deer and a wild boar. We have recovered a country gun and head torch from them," he explained.