The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has said that the translocated tusker Arikomban will be tranquilised if it attacks people and raids residential areas. Palraj, a biker who was recently attacked by the elephant, died at the Theni Government Medical College on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced the setting up of a special team led by the field director of Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve to capture Arikomban.
The tusker is now in the deep forest near Shanmuganathi Dam in Theni. Though the team searched the area for the tusker, they failed to locate him, sources said.
The team is prepared to administer tranquilliser shots once the elephant reaches the farmland, opposite the dam. The forest dept officials have said his health is satisfactory and added it is difficult to get signals from the radio collar as the animal has retreated to deep forest.
Arikomban was relocated from Chinnakanal in Idukki to Periyar Tiger Reserve after being tranquilised and radio-collared. The elephant has killed 11 people and destroyed 300 houses and shops in the Chinnakanal area. Forest officials of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are monitoring the movement of the elephant, sources said.
