Mysuru: The Hunsur Rural Police have arrested three persons in connection with a shooting incident during an attempted sheep theft near Gurupura village in Hunsur taluk.

The arrested are Pramod, 28, an agriculturist from Shyamboganahalli village in Bilikere hobli; C.V. Sudeep, 28, originally from Chouthi village in Periyapatna taluk and currently residing at Basarikatte in Madapura village, Bilikere hobli; and Devaraj, 31 of Hindagudlu village in Hunsur.

All three have been remanded to Judicial Custody. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by Govinda, a shepherd from Togari Gunti village in Sira taluk of Tumakuru district.

Addressing a press conference at his office this morning, Superintendent of Police (SP) Mallikarjun Baladandi said, the incident occurred around 1 am on Nov. 6. Three persons arrived on two motorcycles near a sheep enclosure belonging to Tenzin, a Tibetan refugee at the Gurupura Tibetan Camp.

Govinda and other shepherds noticed them trying to steal sheep and confronted them. When questioned, the suspects claimed that they had come hunting.

As the shepherds raised an alarm, the three attempted to escape on their motorcycle. When Govinda and the others tried to stop them, one of the suspects opened fire, injuring Govinda, Bheema and Jhunjanna below the knee, SP Mallikarjun Baladandi said. After the firing, one of the accused left behind a bike.

Accused hid in forest

A special team headed by Hunsur Rural Police Inspector Santosh Kashyap was formed to trace the accused. The team worked under the guidance of Additional SPs C. Mallik and L. Nagesh and the supervision of Hunsur Sub-Division Dy.SP Ravi.

“The accused were hiding in a forest area near Hunsur. The first accused was arrested at 7 pm yesterday, followed by the arrest of two more suspects r at 2 am,” the SP revealed.

The Police seized a Single-Barrel Breech-Loading (SBBL) gun used in the shooting, along with two cartridges, one live and the other spent.

The investigation revealed that the licensed firearm belonged to Ramakrishnegowda of Hindagudlu village.

Previous cases

Police said, Pramod was earlier named as an accused in an attempt to murder case registered at Hunsur Rural Police Station in 2025 over personal enmity. He is currently out on bail.

Pramod and Sudeep are also accused in a robbery case registered at Bilikere Police Station in 2021. The case is pending trial, and both are out on bail.