Union minister Maneka Gandhi on Sunday has blasted the killing of tigress Avni in Yavatmal Maharashtra.
Union minister Maneka Gandhi on Sunday has blasted the killing of tigress Avni in Yavatmal Maharashtra.
In a series of tweets, the woman and child development minister said that it was a serious matter, and she would take it up with Mahararashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Calling it 'nothing, but a straight case of crime, Gandhi said that despite several requests from stakeholders, Sudhir Mungantiwar, the minister for forests in Maharashtra, gave orders for the killing. "He has been doing this regularly and this is the third tiger being murdered besides several leopards and wild boars," she alleged.
She also alleged that the shooter’s son was also part of the murder of the tigress. "His son was not authorised to kill. This is patently illegal. Despite the forest officials being committed to tranquilise, capture and qurantine the tigress, the trigger-happy shooter has killed her on his own under orders of Mungantiwar," Gandhi tweeted.
She also lashed out at the shooter Shafat Ali Khan, the man Mungatiwar hired to kill Avni, the tigress. "Shafat Ali Khan has killed 3 tigers, at least 10 leopards, a few elephants and 300 wild boar in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. He is a criminal known for supplying guns to anti-nationals and for a suspected case of murder in Hyderabad. I fail to understand why a state government should even bother about such a man let alone hire his services for illegal and inhuman acts," Gandhi tweeted.
She added that she would take up this case of 'utter lack of empathy for animals as a test case. Legally, criminally as well as politically'.
Following the uproar over the fatal shooting of problem tigress Avni (T1) in Yavatmal’s Pandharkawda forest on Friday, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has said that involving controversial shooter Shafath Ali Khan in the hunt was not illegal since the state’s chief wildlife warden had authorised him.
However, officials from the central body were quick to add that it has sought a detailed factual report on the events surrounding her shooting. Based on the report, they will take appropriate action in the matter.
“Our regional officer from Nagpur has been asked to monitor post-mortem of the tigress and we have sought a factual report too. Once we receive all the details, it will be clear if there were any procedural lapses or specific violations of the standard operating procedure that is ought to be followed to deal with problem animals. Shooting a problem animal is the last resort,” said Anup Kumar Nayak, member secretary and additional director general, NTCA.
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