Bhubaneswar: A wild elephant entered the Odisha capital Wednesday, causing panic among residents before it was tranquilised and shifted out of the city, officials said.
The pachyderm was first spotted at Garage Square near Rabi talkies around 2 am and later it moved to Sundarpada locality via the Poonama Gate area.
The animal is suspected to have come from a forest near Puri district’s Pipili, around 25 km from Bhubaneswar.
Police and forest officials faced a tough time in driving away the elephant for which separate teams comprising a total of 100 people were formed.
Forest officials of Bhubaneswar, Khurda and Chandaka wildlife sanctuary also joined them.
The tusker was finally tranquilised near Aigina area around 5.20 am and taken to neighbouring Nayagarh district in a truck for release into a forest, a forest official said.
“The animal was first seen in Pipili and we have been driving it since Tuesday morning. It has not caused any damage but large gatherings of onlookers made our task difficult,” City DFO Ajit Kumar Satpathy said.