INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Tigress Avni was shot dead in a controversial hunt on November 2
professionals and the team which killed the tigress on November 2 in Yavatmal and that the dart for tranquilizing the feline was fired
unauthorisedly.It also said the veterinary drugs were handled by unauthorised person during the operation, in which sharp-shooter Asghar Ali
Khan had shot the tigress.The state government has been under fire over the death of the tigress, officially known as T1, who was believed
to have turned a man-eater and killed 13 people in the last two years in Yavatmal.The killing of the tigress also led to an outrage among
animal lovers and wildlife organisations.The two-member committee, comprising retired additional principal conservator of forests O P Kaler
and NGO Wildlife Trust of India's deputy director Jose Louies, was constituted on November 8 to probe the tigress' killing.The report was
submitted by the committee to member secretary, NTCA, on November 28.The committee in its report stated that the forest department took
creditable efforts for tracking, camera trapping and DNA analysis to identify the suspected animal and placed trap cages to capture T1
alive."However, there was no operational coordination among veterinary professionals and the team which killed T-1," it said.Also, forester
Mukhbir Sheikh was authorised only to identify the tigress or her cubs.The dart fired by Sheikh was used approximately 56 hours after being
prepared by a veterinarian expert, who had advised Sheikh to use the dart in his presence and within 24 hours, the report said."Neither
Mukhbir Sheikh or Asghar Ali Khan cared for the expert's advice," the report said, adding that the dart was fired at T1 without adequate
preparedness and the NTCA's standard operating procedure was not followed.It said the dart was fired from approximately 12.8 m distance when
T1 was on its natural path crossing a road, probably moving towards a nullah (drain).The tigress continued movement after darting on its
natural path while snarling and growling at the team probably because of disturbance due to the dart, moving vehicle and light."Within three
to five seconds, Asghar Ali Khan took one of the guns and shot at T1 from the moving vehicle in sitting position
T1 was stunned by the impact and died on the spot," the report said.The report said evidences collated from the site, videos taken soon
after the incident and recreation of events strongly support these observations."In view of the facts emerging out from the provisional
postmortem report, the firing in self-defence is doubtful," it said.The report findings further state that the weapon used by Asghar Ali
Khan to fire at T1 was licensed in the name of his father Shafat Ali Khan, who was not present with the team that shot the tigress.Asghar
Ali Khan has not produced any authorisation from his father to use the gun in his absence, and he used the "unauthorised weapon" to
eliminate T1, the report said.Besides, the delegation of powers vested under Section 11(1) (a) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 by the
Chief Wildlife Warden to CCF (T) and authorisation of person by CCF (T), Yavatmal to capture or eliminate tiger (Schedule I species) is
violation of Section 5 (2) of the said Act.The ballistic report, forensic report and other lab reports along with final postmortem report
are necessary evidences to further corroborate the findings of the report, it added.For the latest News Live Updates on Election Results
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