Elephant tranquilised after night-long op, sent to Baikunthapur

Jalpaiguri: Even after being rescued from an abandoned well, a middle-aged elephant triggered panic across several parts of Jalpaiguri on Monday night, forcing the Forest Department and police to conduct an overnight operation before safely returning the animal to the Baikunthapur forest.

The elephant fell into an abandoned well near a factory in the Karala Valley tea garden on Monday morning while moving with two adult elephants towards the Baikunthapur forest via the Bodaganj–Gaurikone route. Forest officials rescued the animal using an earthmover by cutting away the soil around the well. While the two adult elephants returned to the Bodaganj forest, the rescued elephant became separated from the herd and began roaming in different directions.

As evening set in, the elephant entered the western line of the Danguajhar tea garden and broke highway barricades near the Jalpaiguri–Siliguri National Highway, moving towards areas behind the Engineering College and A.C. College. The animal roamed through college campuses, a graveyard, the TB Hospital area, and along the Karala River, before taking shelter in bushes behind the Rajbari around 3:30 am. During its movement, the elephant also damaged a house belonging to Jiten Roy in Netaji Subhash Nagar.

Fearing the animal might enter densely populated areas at daybreak, forest officials, assisted by police, launched a joint operation from 8 pm on Monday to 4:30 am on Tuesday. The elephant was eventually tranquilised and transported back to the Baikunthapurforest using an earthmover. Residents expressed relief

after the operation. “Everyone in the neighbourhood lost sleep due to fear,” said locals Sunu Ramdas and Pabitra Barman.Baikunthapur Forest Division ADFO Dipen Tamang said the elephant’s high energy levels made the operation challenging. “The middle-aged elephant was extremely active. After treatment, it was safely released into the Baikunthapur forest,” he said.

Voluntary organisations have praised the coordinated efforts of the Forest Department and police in averting a potential disaster.