SC notice to Maharashtra govt on plea claiming Avni was not man-eater

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to Maharashtra government in connection with the killing of Avni, an adult tigress, in Maharashtra in 2018.

Issuing notice to nine persons, mostly state government officials,A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said "...they flouted orders that they shall not reward anyone who kills (the tigress)."

"We want to see clear findings that human nails, hair, teeth or whatever, does not disappear for a period of six months and that no such thing was found in (T1's) intestine. Show us...she was not a man-eater," Bobde said. "We will issue notice also. Because the reward part is clearly violated."

The tigress, T1, as she was known officially, was killed on November 2, 2018, by the team of hunters which was dispatched to eliminate her. T1 was shot by Hyderabad-based sharp shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan's son Asgarh around 11 pm.

She was killed in a single shot, from point blank, without even making an attempt to tranquilize her and capture the tiger alive, which the activists were demanding.

However, the incident triggered outrage among wildlife activists, who alleged that no efforts were made to tranquillise Avni and called it "murder in cold blood".