Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal
Bantwal, Dec 3: A man who went hunting into the forest in a group was accidentally killed by a bullet reportedly fired by his friend. The incident occured late night on Tuesday December 1.
The deceased has been identified as Budda Naika alias Muddanna (57), a jeep driver and resident of Dambe in Punacha.
It is learnt that on Tuesday night, armed with double-barreled rifles, Muddanna along with Satish Gowda, Chidananda Gowda and Sundar Gowda, all residents of Ajirumajalu, went on a hunt for wild boars in a Maruti van. They stopped the vehicle at Toranakatte road in Punacha and climbed a hill in their hunt for the boars.
On finding that wild boars were nearby, they split into two groups and continued the hunt. Sources said that Satish, who had a rifle in one hand and a searchlight in the other, sensed something moving among the bushes located some distance away. Believing it to be a wild boar, Satish at once fired the double-barreled rifle, but instead of the boar, the target he had fired at turned out to be Muddanna, it is said. The bullet hit Muddanna on the head and killed him on the spot, sources said.
As soon as they realized the grave error, the men called up Muddanna's son and narrated the incident. They also brought Muddanna's body to his house. The locals alleged that they tried to hush up the case by cooking up a story that Muddanna had died of an accidental fall, and that they tried to perform the last rites on Wednesday morning without informing the police.
However, after a few well-wishers of Muddanna expressed suspicions about his death, the locals approached the district ASP and explained the matter.
On receiving information, superintendent of police Dr Sharanappa, ASP Vincent Shanthakumar, Bantwal circle inspector and other police officials and personnnel visited the spot and conducted investigatons.
The body was sent for post-mortem to a hospital in Deralakatte.
It is said that Muddanna used to often go hunting with his friends. He leaves behind two wives and seven children.
The Vittal police took Chidananda, Satish and Sundar into custody for questioning.
A case has been registered in Vittal police station based on a complaint filed by Muddanna's brother.