Maharashtra Forest Ministry sets up committee to probe tigress Avni's killing

Maharashtra Forest Ministry has formed an inquiry committee to look into the killing of tigress Avni.

The committee will inquire whether all norms and directives were followed when the tigress was killed. It will also look into the procedure adopted by the team which killed Avni.

The panel headed by Forest department officer SH Patil comprise member of Wildlife Institute of India Bilal Habib and member of Wildlife Promotion Trust Anish Andheriya. A senior forest department official Nitin Kakodkar will work as a coordinator.

On November 2, T1 or Tigress Avni, who was believed to have killed 13 people in the last two years, was gunned down by sharp-shooter Azgher Ali Khan in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district as part of a planned operation.

The killing invited huge flak from various quarters with Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi lashing out at the Maharashtra government for the move.

The BJP leader also lambasted sharp-shooter Azgher Ali, saying he was not authorised to gun down the tigress, and that he carried out the task illegally.

"This is patently illegal. Despite the forest officials being committed to tranquilise, capture and quarantine the tigress, the trigger-happy shooter has killed her on his own under direct orders of Mungantiwar. The tigress was a mother. Now her two cubs will also die," she said in a tweet.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed his sadness over the decision to kill the man-eater tigress and assured that his government will initiate a probe to check if there were any procedural lapses in the entire operation.