Speaking about the committee appointed to look into the matter, Dr PV Subramanian, member of Earth Brigade Foundation, said the inquiry committee is a 'farce' and there should be a judicial probe.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded that the state government bring in a team of wildlife rescuers from outside state to rehabilitate the cubs of tigress Avni. The party also accused forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar of being hand in glove with 'forest land mafia' and demanded a judicial probe into "fake encounter" of tigress Avni.
Speaking about the committee appointed to look into the matter, Dr PV Subramanian, member of Earth Brigade Foundation, said the inquiry committee is a 'farce' and there should be a judicial probe. "It should be led by a judge from outside Maharashtra, with veterinary expert, forensic expert and other subject matter experts that can opine on Ministerial oversight."
"The state government is selling the forest land to corporates to gain profit. A land of 465 hectares is given away where the tigress was killed. It looks like the tigress was killed because of the upcoming project," alleged Preeti Sharma Menon, Spokesperson of AAP.
She added, "The villagers wanted Avni to be taken away from their forest, but they did not demand her murder. It was unfortunate that rather than tranquillizing her, they wanted to kill her."
The wildlife activists also demanded that a team should be called from another state for the rescue of Avni's cubs who have not eaten for the last 13 days.
Menon, further added, "We have come together to demand the immediate rescue of the Avni cubs. We demand that since Maharashtra Forest Department has shown lack of capability as well as empathy, a team be called from another state of India to complete this mission."
The party members will soon be meeting the state's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis regarding the issue and will be asking him to bring another team from other states to complete the mission by rescuing the cubs and rehabilitating them.
Replying to AAP charges, Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said: "They are making baseless charges. The land given for development is at least 60 to 70 kms away from the spot where the tigress incident took place. Moreover, the land was given before 2012, when our government was not in power."
Nirupam seeks Min's scalp
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Saturday demanded the resignation of Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar over the killing of tigress Avni and sought a CBI probe into the entire episode. He alleged a connection between Mungantiwar and the poachers, who allegedly killed Avni.
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