Prohibitory orders were imposed and holiday declared for schools at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad district of Kerala on Friday after a wild elephant entered the town.
It was during the wee hours of Friday that the wild elephant entered the town and attacked one person.
A forest department official said that it was the same wild elephant that killed two persons and caused destruction to many houses at Gudalur in the border areas of Tamil Nadu recently. Hence a high alert was sounded.
The elephant, which was known as Pandular Makhna-2 (PM2), was captured by the Tamil Nadu forest authorities last month and was released in deep forest last month after fixing radio collar. It was now located to be around two kilometres into the forest, said the official.
The district administration imposed prohibitory orders at ten wards close to the forest areas in Sulthan Bathery municipality. Schools in the region were also given holiday by afternoon.
Forest officials said that efforts were on to track the elephant and chase it away back to the deep forests. Trained elephants, known as 'Kumki' elephants, were brought to Sulthan Bathery. A team of experts were also kept ready to tranqulize the elephant if required.
It was by around 2 am that the elephant entered the town. A person who was passing by was initially attacked. He managed to escape with minor injuries. The elephant also tried to attack a bus that passed by. Later it went back to the nearby forest area. CCTV footage of the incident has come out.
Published 06 January 2023, 14:22 IST