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Jumbo jitters: Wild elephant strays into Ranchi, driven back after 5-hr panic
A wild elephant caused panic in Ranchi after straying into residential areas. It was safely guided back to the forest after five hours. No injuries reported.
Residents of Ranchi woke up to a colossal surprise on Friday morning when a wild elephant strayed into the heart of the city’s residential zones. The unexpected visitor triggered five hours of widespread panic before being successfully guided back to the safety of the forest.
A police official said the lone tusker was first sighted around 5am near Nagar National Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (NIAMT) and then it was seen navigating the lanes of Hawai Nagar and later moving toward the busy Birsa Chowk area in the heart of the city.
“The timing of the intrusion coinciding with the start of school hours sent parents and authorities into a frenzy. Commuters fled the streets, and residents in affected localities were advised to remain indoors. The elephant pushed a few vehicles and damaged small shops along its path, though no human injuries were reported,” the police official said.
A forest official said a joint team from Ranchi division of the forest department and local police launched an immediate operation to contain the situation.
“Forest personnel used sirens and firecrackers to steer the animal away from crowded residential blocks and toward the city outskirts.By 10 am the jumbo was successfully guided out of Ranchi’s urban limits. By 2:30 pm, the elephant had reached a forest area approximately 12 kilometres away from the city,” the forest official said.
Ranchi divisional forest officer Srikant Verma said,“The elephant reached the forest safely without damaging anyone.”
Preliminary observations by the forest department suggested the elephant may have been disoriented due to an injury to one of its eyes.
“Elephant had an injury to one of its eyes. It is believed the animal deviated from its traditional migration corridor between the Halhu forest and Dhurwa Dam region due to that injury,” a forest official said.
The incident follows recent directives from CM Hemant Soren to scale up efforts against human-elephant conflict in the state, which has seen 27 related deaths in past two months.
