Rampaging elephant damages buildings in Indian city

Residents of Siliguri on Wednesday woke up to find a fully grown wild elephant running madly on the streets and damaging buildings, police said.

PHOTO: Hindustantimes

The rampaging elephant had made its way from Baikantapur Forest at 6am. When it reached Siliguri town, the elephant went on a destruction spree, police said. The elephant was first spotted at Dabgram, Fulbari areas within ward numbers 30 and 40 of Siliguri town.

PHOTO: Hindustantimes

As panic-stricken people started running for safety, forest personnel rushed to the area to drive away the pachyderm to the forest. Policemen tried to control the crowd and requested people not to panic. However, people were helpless as the elephant continued to damage the houses, compounds and sheds.



Eventually, police had to resort to baton-charge in a bid to control the crowd . The pachyderm created alarm when it reached a busy road in the city and started trooping near a cinema hall. The road remained closed and vehicles came to halt.



Meanwhile, forest personnel said tranquiliser shots have been fired at the jumbo but the effects were not visible at the time. Baikunthapur Forest Ranger Sanjoy Dutta said five to six buildings were damaged by the pachyderm.

The elephant is now at Ashigarh, another densely populated area of the town. Presence of curious onlookers have led to traffic snarls which are giving a trying time to forest and police personnel who are waiting to see whether the elephant is showing symptoms of being tranquilised.

This article originally appeared on Hindustan Times.