GUWAHATI, Nov 11 - A team of forest personnel and Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika on Monday tranquillised and captured the wild elephant which had reportedly killed five people in Goalpara district on October 29 last.
Head of Forest Force and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest AM Singh said the elephant was tranquillised this morning at Satabari near Darrangiri.
�However, we were not able to lift it so far. We have put in place trucks and cranes at the place besides a few kumkis (trained elephants). The animal was still weak. Probably we will have to wait till the morning,� Singh said over phone from Goalpara.
A huge crowd of over 5,000 people gathered at the site to watch the operation.
The elephant will be kept under watch tonight and shifted to a secured place tomorrow morning.
�It will be taken to a least disturbed place in a forest. Later, the Chief Wildlife Warden will take a call on where and when to shift it,� Singh said.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal congratulated Padma Hazarika, who had volunteered to be a part of the operation, and the team for successfully capturing the wild elephant. Hazarika � who hails from a family which had a tradition of capturing and taming elephants till the act was banned - used two of his elephants in the operation.
The forest department has ascertained that the bull-elephant is not the same elephant (Laden) which had been responsible for killing of over 30 people in the district in the last two years. It is a new individual, a musth.
At least nine human casualties were reported in man-elephant conflict hit Goalpara this year.