Tigress Avni (T1) case: The pictures that tell story of a murder

A report from the postmortem of tigress T1 has driven a bullet right through the states claims that the big cat was shot in selfdefence A representative of the state forest department concluded in the report that T1 was facing away from the shooter and the tranquiliser dart showed no sign of being fired by a tranq gunThe state claims that tigress T1 was shot in selfdefence but thats not what the pictures from the postmortem say midday has accessed the postmortem witness report which concludes that T1 was facing away from the person who fired the bulletThe state said T1 was shot while she was charging at the team The report includes diagrams and pictures to support this deduction and another equally incriminating finding mdash the dart embedded in the left thigh did not appear to have been fired from a tranquilising rifle since there was no damage to the underlying tissue and the syringe was only embedded superficiallyThis conclusion is in line with activists allegations that the tigresss shooting was not in selfdefence and the body may have been dressed up with the tranquiliser dart to cover up the killingAfter the autopsy the body was burnt in a funeral pyre adjacent to the postmortem roomThe postmortem witness report filed by wildlife biologist Milind Pariwakam on behalf of the Maharashtra Forest Department is in direct contradiction to the states claims that the tigress was shot while she was charging at the search team see boxAnnexure 1 to the report show the entry point of the bullet near the third rib on the left flank and the place where it was lodged two major pieces lodged on the right shoulder blade The arrows show the trajectory of the bullet The report states The entry point place where bullet was lodged and the trajectory of the bullet that show that the animal was facing away from the person who fired the bulletThe left flank of the tigress displaying the bullets entry point near the shoulder and the tranquiliser dart on the left thighThis picture was taken after lifting the skin flap over the left thigh where the tranq dart was embedded It demonstrates two major points Firstly there is no haematoma blood clot in the tissue The report states Dart fired from a syringe projector tranquilising rifle always leaves a significant and obvious haematoma which was not observed in this case Secondly the cannula needle of the dart is clearly visible in the subcutaneous layer Lack of penetration into underlying muscular layer also visible Tranquilising rifles usually shoot darts at great force driving them deep into the tissueThe autopsy experts remove a flap of skin from the tigresss left flank to show the bullet hole and righta closeup view of the bullets entry point during dissectionThe veterinarians finger points to the location where the bullet was lodged near the right scapula The report states The bullet was found in two major pieces lodged on the right scapula The scapula was also fractured and pieces of the scapula with the two bullet pieceswere collected There were tiny fragments of the bulletState report on shootingIn its report on the November 2 shooting the state had said that Asghar Ali son of controversial sharpshooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan shot at the tigress while she was charging at shooting team in their open jeep It stated When certain about the identity of the tigress a team member attempted a dart that hit it but the tigress moved back and charged at the team which was in a open gypsy As an act of selfdefence Mr Asghar fired from a distance of about 810 m The tigress died on the spotCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates