The rogue elephant, which was captured in Goalpara, has remained stranded on a truck near Mangaldai for several hours as its relocation to Orang National Park has been opposed by the locals.
The male wild elephant, which had killed five persons on October 29 in Goalpara district, created havoc for the last few days.
As the news of the elephant being shifted to Orang NP spread, the locals came out in large numbers and gathered in front of Silbari outpost near the park gate.
The locals suspected that the forest officials would release the wild elephant in the park after which it would again unleash terror in areas near the park in Darrang district.
However, Northeast Now earlier reported that the rogue male elephant, which has been officially named as Krishna, will be trained as a captive elephant under the Assam forest department in Orang NP.
Krishna was captured after being tranquilized on Monday during a massive operation by the forest department led by Sootea’s BJP MLA Padma Hazarika.
Also read: Assam: Rogue Laden becomes ‘Krishna’, to be captivated
On Tuesday, the elephant was taken to Darrang district.
But as it reaches the district, the news spread like wildfire and people near Orang NP protested against the decision of the forest department.
Sensing danger, the forest officials directed the truck, on which the elephant was being taken to the park, to stop near Mangaldai where it has remained stranded for four hours since 8 pm.
Also read: Assam CM lauds MLA Padma Hazarika for capturing wild jumbo
Meanwhile, district administrative officials and high-level forest officials including the chief wildlife warden of Assam, MK Yadav, conservator of forests DD Gogoi and CCF, Kaziranga, Akashdeep Baruah have rushed to Silbari to control the situation.
They have tried to convince the people that the elephant is being taken to Orang National Park, not to be released there but to be trained as a captivate elephant.
Earlier, Assam forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya also said, “We are going to captivate the elephant. However, if we fail in captivating it, we are going to release it in a safe zone in the wild.”
According to sources, the top-level forest officials have been able to convince the villagers regarding the plan of the forest department.