Inquiry will be held into killing of tigress: CM Fadnavis

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday ordered a probe into the controversial killing of the tigress Avni.

Reacting to the allegations against the state government by Union Cabinet minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleague Maneka Gandhi, Mr Fadnavis said that apart from being a minister, Ms Gandhi is an animal rights activist. “Though the minister has been critical of the state government, we should understand her feelings for animals,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at his residence Varsha on the occasion of Diwali Milan, the chief minister said that everyone was saddened by the death of Avni. “The forest department decided to kill the tigress as she had killed 13 to 14 people. Whatever had happened, some dou-bts have been raised. We will certainly inquire into it,” he added.

Mr Fadnavis also said, “An inquiry will be conducted into whether the proper procedure was followed or not.”

He said the probe would find out if the tigress was first killed and later darted.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Ms Gandhi denounced the government, stating, “It is nothing but a straight case of crime. Despite several requests from many stakeholders, Sh@-SMungantiwar, Minister for Forests, #Maharas-htra, gave orders for the killing.”

She also said, “I am deeply saddened by the way tigress Avni has been brutally murdered in  #Yavatmal, #Maha-rashtra. Every time he has used Hyderabad-based shooter Shafat Ali Khan and this time his son has also appeared at the scene illegally to murder the tigress. His son was not authorised to kill. This is patently illegal. Despite the forest officials being committed to tranquillise, capture and quarantine the tigress, the trigger-happy shooter has killed her on his own under orders of Sh@Smungantiwar.”

The chief minister further said, “We are working hard to preserve wildlife, especially to increase the numbers of the tiger population. A tiger becomes a man-eater when its habitat is violated…  Hence, the sad decision was taken to eliminate her. At the same time, if she could have been captured and kept in a zoo, we could have rehabilitated her, but what I have been told is that she had attacked (the person trying to dart her).”

On the stinging statements made by Ms Gandhi, Mr Fadnavis said, “Manekaji is an animal activist from her heart. She has been fighting for the cause of animals.” Citing an example, he said, “I once received several calls from her to give immediate relief to an elephant, which had been troubled. She kept calling me every five minutes until our forces reached to rescue the elephant.”   

Asked about Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray’s sarcastic suggestion that the name of the forest ministry be changed to the ministry of poaching, Mr Fadnavis said that animal lovers’ feelings are intense over this issue, but sometimes a harsh decision needs to be taken as on the one hand people were killed while on the other we have to conserve them (tigers).