The Tarikere police have launched a manhunt for two people, who escaped from the custody of forest officers on the court premises in the town on Thursday evening.
T.R. Nagaraj, former president of Tarikere Town Municipal Council, and his associate Vasanth Kumar escaped after being arrested by the forest officials on the charge of encroaching upon forest area at Arsikere village in Tarikere taluk.
The police told The Hindu that there was information that the accused were in a hospital in Shivamogga. The police searched all hospitals in the city. “We are making efforts to arrest them. The accused fled the court premises in an ambulance. They forced the ambulance driver to take out the vehicle and got down after travelling for a couple of kilometres. Later, they must have escaped in a private vehicle,” said a police officer on Saturday.
Complaint
The Lakkavalli Range Forest officers had received a complaint from residents of Arsikere that Nagaraj had encroached upon forest land in the village. Acting upon the complaint, the forest officers reached the village on Thursday and noticed Nagaraj and his men clearing forest land with an earthmover.
The officers took Nagaraj, Vasanth Kumar, Manjunath, Basavaraj and Dhananjay into custody and registered a case against them. Before taking them to the judicial magistrate, the accused were subjected to medical examination. The doctor recommended medical examination for Nagaraj and Vasanth Kumar in McGann Hospital in Shivamogga as they had a history of heart problems. The two were taken in an ambulance to the court before taking them to Shivamogga, while the remaining three were taken in a Forest Department vehicle. As the vehicles reached the court, the supporters of the accused gathered and created commotion, facilitating the two to escape. Chandrashekhar Reddy, RFO, has filed a complaint with the police against the two. The police have registered the complaint under the Section 224 (obstructing lawful apprehension).