Summary:
The two of them confessed that they had set fire to the forest to scare away the tigers. They have lit fire using beedi,” the foresters said.Principal chief conservator of forests, Punati Sridhar said so far three persons were arrested for setting fire to the forest in G S Betta area. Gopalaiah owns a small agriculture land and both rear sheep and goats for a living. As both Hanumanthaiah and Gopalaiah stayed on open land for grazing their sheep, they feared that the tigers could attack them any time. MYSURU: Two shepherds , who live on the fringes of Bandipur Tiger Reserve , have been arrested for allegedly setting fire to the forest that raged for five days before it was finally put out on Tuesday.Hanumanthaiah (70) and Gopalaiah (60) from Chowdalli village in Uttara Kannada district were arrested by forest officers after they confessed to setting fire to the forest in an effort to save their livestock from being attacked by tigers..