Chennai, India – The recent killing of three Tamil-speaking men by Karnataka foresters on Saturday has revived painful memories of a chilling forest massacre that shook the country 11 years ago. On April 7, 2015, the newly-formed Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Taskforce in Andhra Pradesh gunned down 20 woodcutters from Tamil Nadu in the Seshachalam forest area. The incident, described as the “bloodiest in the history of red sanders smuggling,” sparked widespread outrage and raised serious questions about the use of force by forest authorities.
According to the Taskforce, a combing operation was carried out near Srinivasa Mangapuram and Eethagunta. When over 100 woodcutters were found felling trees, the personnel asked them to surrender. The Taskforce claimed that the woodcutters attacked them with stones and sickles, injuring some personnel, and that they fired shots in self-defence. However, inconsistencies in the First Information Report (FIR) and the circumstances surrounding the encounter led to allegations of a fabricated story. Human rights activists pointed to burns and other injuries on the bodies, suggesting the woodcutters were tortured before being killed.
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The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa, expressed doubts over the “self-defence” theory, stating that even if the labourers were involved in smuggling, the use of force appeared disproportionate. She granted a solatium of ₹2 lakh from party funds to the families of each deceased. The issue was also raised in the Rajya Sabha, with members demanding a CBI or judicial probe. The incident remains a grim reminder of the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities and the need for accountability in encounters involving state agencies.
