Forest Minister seeks CID probe for tracking missing tiger Jai

Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar wants state CID to locate missing tiger Jai before CBI is tasked with looking into the matter.

Mungantiwar has written a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urging him to order a CID probe into the disappearance of the tiger from the Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary spread over Bhandara and Nagpur districts.

The Forest Minister had on Tuesday said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a CBI probe into the big cat’s disappearance.

Mungantiwar on Wednesday said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) should take over the task of finding Jai till the Centre orders a CBI probe. Rescuers, wildlife experts and volunteers have been scouring the forest, trying to locate the 250-kg tiger who was last spotted on April 18.

The BJP leader appeared miffed at party Lok Sabha MP from Bhandara-Gondia, Nana Patole, writing directly to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in the matter.

Mungantiwar, in a sarcastic tone, said probably Patole has more information on Jai, which he is not comfortable sharing with the state Forest Department officials.

“Patole has contended that Jai has been killed with collusion of Forest Department officials. On the other hand a local at Pauni (a town in Bhandara) has claimed to have seen Jai. Therefore, I have requested the CM to conduct a CID probe till the CBI takes over,” Mungantiwar told reporters.

He said wildlife experts have argued tigers tend to migrate to other areas once their cubs grow up. The Minister said at present the roads around the sanctuary are not motorable due to heavy rains.

Replying to queries on nod to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, he said Maharashtra will ask Centre for time-bound compensation of losses due to abolition of local bodies tax (LBT) and octroi to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after the new indirect tax regime comes into force.

The BMC earns octroi to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore every year which the civic body would not be able to collect once GST is implemented.

Mungantiwar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, ruled out the possibility of Maharashtra incurring any revenue loss on account of advent of GST. “The services sector alone accounts for 58 per cent of the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

At the national level, the state’s contribution in services sector is 16 per cent.” He said the government has decided to set up a committee of experts to study the impact of GST on state finances.