Forest guard murdered

forest official being assaulted and killed in Dandeli, a forest guard was today allegedly killed by a person over a personal feud at Vaderi forest check post near here, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Viresh Hiremath (45), who succumbed to head injuries after he was assaulted with a wooden log by one Manjunath Naik, who has been arrested, Karwar SP K T Balakrishna said.

Assistant Conservator of Forests Madan H Nayak died in a Dharwad hospital on May 9 after he was allegedly assaulted by a group of tourists in Dandeli on May 6 when he tried to prevent them from throwing meat to crocodiles in Kali river at the Dandeli crocodile park.

Nayak had told them it was dangerous and may result in the reptiles attacking them. But the tourists who were reportedly in an inebriated state refused to pay heed to his advice and instead allegedly assaulted him injuring him seriously.

Three have been nabbed and a hunt is on for the others, police had said.

Meanwhile, CID sleuths today began their investigation into the Nayak case. A couple of days ago Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had directed the CID to take over the case in the light of public outcry against alleged inaction by local police.