COIMBATORE: Two days after the high drama over capture and translocation of ‘Madukkarai Maharaj’ ended in its death, yet another giant tusker strayed into Madukkarai triggering panic among villagers.

The tusker strayed into the military camp area and entered the surrounding villages on Wednesday night. It soon triggered speculation that this was the actual ‘Madukkarai Maharaj’ elephant and that the Forest department had mistakenly captured and translocated a different animal.

However, the Forest department staff firmly disapproved the claims of the villagers. “It is just a rumour spread by some mischief monger to trigger unrest among the villagers. We began the operation to capture the Maharaj elephant only after tracking it for several months. It was captured only on confirming its identity and there is no chance for a mix-up in our efforts,” said M Senthil Kumar, Madukkarai Forest Ranger.

However Forest department sources believe that the wild tusker, which strayed out of the forest on Wednesday, could be one among the two sub-adults that befriended Maharaj days before the start of the operation.

“In the whole of last week, this elephant dutifully followed Maharaj, wherever it went. This is not the first time that this elephant is entering military camp area. It arrives only to consume water kept there. It has never damaged anything and behaves in a gentle manner. So the public need not panic,” said the official.

After consuming water regularly at around 10 p.m., it will return to the forest immediately, were as Madukkarai Maharaj used to go till the bypass road, and return again to the forest through the military camp area in the morning around 5 a.m. The Forest department officials cautioned the villagers not to disturb such straying elephants.

“Unless we disturb them they won't do anything. The army personnel who have spotted the animals several times have only alerted us and not complained to us about the movement of the animals,” said the official.