New Delhi, Nov. 9 (PTI): Maharashtra forest officials shot the wrong tiger dead under political heat to kill or capture a maneater last year.

A reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed the mistake at a time the Prime Minister and conservationists have stepped up efforts to save the species.

The reply said the officials shot a tiger dead whereas the maneater in Chandrapur district’s Bramhapuri forests was a tigress.

The forest department has virtually admitted it had acted in haste under political pressure. The reply refers to letters from local politicians who had threatened to agitate and even kill the maneater themselves. In a letter, Chimur MLA Vijay Wadettiwar had served an ultimatum to the chief conservator of forests to capture or kill the maneater within 15 days, the RTI reply said.

Villagers had complained in October last year that a tigress was killing people and cattle in and around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. The forest department began a hunt in November but failed to capture the animal. Local politicians then turned up the heat on the department.

“After getting these letters, officials again started the hunt for the maneater but with the motive to kill it rather than capturing it alive,” alleged the RTI query from Mumbai resident Ajay Madhusudhan Marathe, who asked whether the killing of the tiger came under political pressure.

During the operation, the officials sighted a tiger eating its kill. The team fired 39 bullets, of which 12 hit the mark.