How tigress Avni was killed: Read the story from shooter’s pen

Hyderabad: It has all the elements of a thriller. A gripping plot, sharp twists and turns – betrayals, survival and conspiracies. A riveting story where the hunter becomes the hunted. Only thing is that it is not a pot-boiler but a real story played out in the forested area of Borati village in Maharashtra. Put […]

Hyderabad: It has all the elements of a thriller. A gripping plot, sharp twists and turns – betrayals, survival and conspiracies. A riveting story where the hunter becomes the hunted. Only thing is that it is not a pot-boiler but a real story played out in the forested area of Borati village in Maharashtra.

Put the clock back by four years and the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fall into place. Avni, the man-eater tigress, had struck panic in 26 villages of Yavatmal district bringing all farming and commercial activities to a standstill. Over a period of two and half years she killed 13 persons and 103 heads of cattle, sending panic waves all over. Her area of operation was a stretch of 160 kms, a locale comprising grazing pastures surrounded by human habitations.

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The horror ended on November 18, 2018 when the tigress was shot down, after 12 failed tranquilising attempts, by Hyderabad professional hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan’s son. It rang down the curtains on the bewitching life of a tigress which had brought the entire State to its knees. For farmers it ended the three long years of anguish and suffering. But for Shafath Ali Khan and his son, Asghar Ali Khan, who actually shot down the tigress, it was the beginning of a bitter trial and witch-hunting.

The father-son duo had a tough time with activists dubbing them ‘trigger happy’ and dragging them to the court – although the operation was carried out on the orders of the Maharashtra government. What actually transpired and how the marauding tigress was killed and the alleged conspiracy played by some veterinarians of the forest department has now surfaced in the shape of a book – Avni, Inside the Hunt for India’s Deadliest Man-Eater.

The book published by Bloomsbury is due for release on June 18. Like his gun, Shafath Ali Khan wields the pen superbly and tells a fascinating tale of hunting one of the deadliest of man-eaters. The fine description of flora and fauna, smells and sounds of the jungle and the angry roars of tiger makes it a compelling read – a bit James Bond like. In this book the Hyderabadi hunter tells the story in the fascinating style of a whodunit. “I have never shot a wrong animal and I am proud of my record”, says Shafath Ali Khan, and points out how not a single human kill happened in the last three years.

It was a do or die situation for Asghar who was leading the charge on that fateful night. He was just one leap away from death. If he had not shot the tigress, he would have been killed and probably others too, says Shafath Ali Khan.

A problematic man-eater, he feels, should be plucked out of the system at the earliest. Immature capture techniques, trial and error experiments of forest officers and veterinarians or the filing of false cases should not be allowed at the cost of innocent forest dwellers. Shafath Ali Khan, who has spent most of his life in the woods, shares his experiences in resolving man-animal conflict.

If you are looking for a fast, easy, action-packed read, look no further.