'Man-eater' tigress Avni shot dead in Maharashtra
Mumbai, Nov 3 : Tigress Avni, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 13 people in Maharashtra in the past two years, was shot dead in Yavatmal district of the state as part of an operation, police said Saturday.
The tigress, T1, as she was known officially, was killed Friday night, they said.
"Avni 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," a police official said.
"Avni, who was known in Pandharkawda forest area, had killed 13 people over the last two years in the region," he said.
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.
For more than three months, Forest Department officials were planning to catch her with the help of latest technology. Trained sniffer dogs, trap cameras, drones and a hang-glider, expert trackers, sharp-shooters and around 200 ground personnel were roped in for the task, he said.
The Forest Department Friday carried out the operation in Borati with the help of sharp-shooter Asgar Ali, he said.
"Urine of another tigress and American perfume was spread in some part of the compartment, following which Avni came by sniffing it," the 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 said.
"After she became motionless, forest officials went closer to her and later rushed her to a hospital in Nagpur, where she was declared dead," the official said.
The post-mortem was in progress, he said.
In October, an elephant that was part of a group hunting a man-eating tigress in Maharashtra ran astray overnight and trampled a woman to death.
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Congress releases 2nd list of 37 candidates for Kerala Assembly polls
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Thursday released its second list of 37 candidates for the April 9 Kerala Assembly polls.
The Congress has fielded T O Mohanan from the Kannur Assembly seat, from where veteran leader K Sudhakaran was seeking the party ticket.
Sudhakaran is the Congress MP from the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency.
Among the other candidates named in the Congress's second list are K Neelakandan from Uduma, Sandeep Varier from Trikaripur, Rajeevan Kappachery from Kalliasseri and Chandran Thillenkeri from Mattannur.
T P Shaji has been fielded from Pattambi, P Harigovindan from Shornur and Ajay Mohan from Kunnamkulam.
The Congress released its first list of 55 candidates for the Kerala polls on Tuesday.
The opposition party has now declared candidates for all the 92 seats it is contesting in the southern state.
Despite indications of interest from senior leaders, no MP has been fielded for the Kerala Assembly election.
