Veterinarian and forensic expert Dr Prayag H S, a senior PhD research scholar, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU-Bengaluru), talks about the way the operation to capture and later kill T1 was dealt with, and how Nawab Shafat Ali Khan apparently hijacked the entire system.

We have heard that there is a lot of pressure on you as you have been raising the shortcomings in the operation to capture (and later kill) T1 and the way the Maharashtra forest department carried it out. What is your take on this?
I started my wildlife journey in 2003 as an intern veterinarian at the world famous Mysore Zoo. Later, I had the opportunity to work with the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) at Bhadra Tiger Reserve. From then on I have been working either with KFD or the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK). I am currently on deputation to do my PhD, and the credit for whatever I am today goes to the ground field staff and dynamic officers of both institutions who had honesty and integrity. I am not targeting the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD), but am definitely targeting the unscientific practices of the nawab and those who are misleading the system.