Udhayanidhi demands high-level judicial inquiry into killing of three Tamils by Karnataka forest officials

Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) demanded a high-level judicial inquiry, instead of an inquiry by the Karnataka State police, into the killing of three Tamils – Antonysamy, John Rose Peter, and Kumar – by personnel of the Karnataka State Forest Department (in an alleged exchange of fire).

Raising the issue in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in Chennai, he said the post-mortem report had clearly established that the three men had been brutally murdered. “According to the post-mortem report, the three had been tortured before being shot at point-blank range. Their ribs had been broken,” he said.

Mr. Udhayanidhi wanted to know whether the Tamil Nadu government had written to Karnataka, seeking an explanation about the incident, and whether Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay had expressed his condemnation when he met his Karnataka counterpart D.K. Shivakumar, who had visited Tamil Nadu a few days ago.

He said the Chief Minister or his Cabinet colleagues should have visited the victims’ families. “The government should take steps to get justice for the families and provide them with financial and legal assistance,” Mr. Udhayanidhi said.

Speaker J.C.P. Prabhakar said the House would have an elaborate discussion on the subject once the Ministers were ready with a proper reply, as the Law Minister and Forest Minister had already responded to the issue earlier.