RTI Records Expose 88 Unresolved Tiger Deaths as NTCA Moves to Close Cases

Overview

• RTI records published Wednesday show 88 tiger deaths from 2020–21 still listed as pending or under scrutiny.
• The NTCA, in a January 12 letter, set a January 27 deadline for states to file post-mortems, forensic and histopathology reports and photographs, with unresolved files to be closed under policy.
• Many case files lack core evidence such as autopsy notes, lab analyses and photo records, which experts say weakens chains of custody and can make 2020 samples scientifically unusable.
• The backlog is concentrated in key landscapes, led by Madhya Pradesh with 32 unresolved deaths and Maharashtra with 20, including clusters in and around Tadoba-Andhari and Chandrapur outside reserve limits.
• Several entries are logged as seizures with tiger parts recovered but no legal closure, and RTI activist Ajay Dubey is pressing for a high-level inquiry and a freeze on the closure plan in favor of a real-time national tracking system.