Man-Eater Big Cat 'Avni' Shot-at-Sight Following Supreme Court's Order

Guwahati: Following the Supreme Court's 'Shoot-at-sight order', Avni, the big cat has finally been shot dead in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district on Friday night. Tigress Avni is believed to have allegedly killed 13 people over the last two years in Yavatmal district in Maharashtra.

As per police sources, the tigress, T1 as she was officially known was shot dead by sharp-shooter Asgar Ali, son of famous sharp-shooter Nawab Shafat Ali, at compartment no 149 of Borati forest under the jurisdiction of the Ralegaon police station.

However, the killing was a part of the operation led out to trace Avni following an order from the apex court, who had been terrorizing the region with her alleged killing spree for over the last two years.

According to police, the Forest Department on Friday carried out the operation in Borati with the help of sharp-shooter Asgar Ali.

“Urine of another tigress and American perfume was spread in some part of the compartment, following which Avni came by sniffing it,” a police official said.

“The forest officials initially tried to nab her alive. However, due to dense forest and darkness, they were unable to do so and finally a bullet was fired in which the tigress fell on the spot,” he further added.

The official also added that later after she became motionless, forest officials went closer to her and later rushed her to a hospital in Nagpur, where she was declared dead. Meanwhile, the post-mortem is in progress.

It needs to be mentioned here that, in September this year, the Supreme Court had said Avni could be shot at sight, which prompted a flurry of online petitions seeking pardon for the tigress.

However as per sources, ignoring all the pleas made in the online petitions, the Forest Department officials planned to catch her with the help of latest technology for more than three months with trained sniffer dogs, trap cameras, drones and a hang-glider, expert trackers, sharp-shooters and around 200 ground personnel being roped in for the task.

As per sources, it may be noted here that the first human killing, attributed to the man-eating tigress, happened in June 2016, and she is said to have allegedly killed 13 villagers in the area until August 28, prompting the Forest Department to issue orders to shoot her.

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