Mungantiwar: Union minister ill-informed
Mungantiwar came forward and addressed the media. He said neither he nor his department gave the order to kill the tigress.
Mumbai: Reacting to the statements of Union minister Maneka Gandhi in the matter of the killing of T1 tigress Avni, Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that if Ms Gandhi wanted a probe into the killing, it could be ordered.
Forest minister also said that his department and he had nothing to do with the decision to shoot the tigress and that it had been done on the order of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). He also slammed Ms Gandhi for her lack of information in the issue.
As Ms Gandhi slammed the killing of the big cat on social networking site Twitter, the state government was forced on Monday to clarify its position.
Mr Mungantiwar came forward and addressed the media. He said neither he nor his department gave the order to kill the tigress.
Mr Mungantiwar said “She (Ms Gandhi) loves animal. However, she is the minister for women and child development and I have to consider the women who have been killed by the tigress.”
Mr Mungantiwar also said that but if Ms Gandhi wanted a probe into the killing, his government would order one.
“Animal-loving activists had approached the Bombay high court over this matter and they had received a stay. But this resulted in the tigress killing more people,” Mr Mungantiwar added.
He also said that if Ms Gandhi has more information of the alleged criminal records of shooter Asgar Ali, being a Union minister she could ask for his arrest.
Ms Gandhi belongs to the same political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as Mr Mungantiwar.
Sources believe that her strong comments against the Maharashtra government on Twitter have disturbed state BJP leaders.
Opposition leaders are criticising the state government for the killing, but Ms Gandhi’s tweets have added fuel to the fire, said state BJP sources.
The 5-year-old big cat, Avni, who was believed to be responsible for the deaths of 13 villagers in the Pandharkawada forest over the last two years, was shot dead in Yavatmal on November 2.
Uproar over shooting
The alliance partner Shiv Sena as well as the opposition parties like the Congress and others have criticised the state government for the killing of Avni.
An editorial ‘Avni, please excuse us,’ was written by Sena in its mouthpiece Saamana. “All the claims that the tigress killed 13 people are fake and it is now proved. So why was the tigress, who had two 11 months old cubs, killed? What did the state government get through this killing?” asked Sena.