The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed a private complaint against Rana George, son of minister K J George, and four others, accusing them of violating the Wildlife Protection Act.
The Forest department had caught a tiger at Pandavanahalli in Chikkamagaluru district in November 2014 and it was released in the Bhimagad wildlife sanctuary in Belagavi district.In December 2014, there were reports that the tiger had killed a woman in Jamboti forest area. The forest department had ordered killing of the tiger in the event of failure to capture the animal. Accordingly, it was shot dead on December 28, 2014.
However, based on the reports on the incident, the Khanapur taluk secretary of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had filed a private complaint in the JMFC court against principal conservator of forests and five others. Rana, a member of Karnataka Wildlife Protection Board, was the fifth accused in the complaint.
The court took cognisance of the complaint and had directed the police to conduct a probe. Rana had approached the High Court challenging the order.
Justice S Sathyanarayana dismissed the complaint stating that there was no merit in the complaint and it had been filed only for the purpose of gaining publicity.
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