They had thought that at nearly 60 years of age, he had mellowed down. There was even a buzz five years ago that he had turned spiritual. But now, there’s again a kind of hush: Don is back.

The Dalma authorities have issued an alert that the temperamental tusker, known to attack humans, is back at the 192sqkm wildlife sanctuary around 30km from here.

Don, who lost one of his tusks after a bloody fight with another elephant over a decade ago, has returned to Dalma after more than three years. He had overstayed in neighbouring Bengal after the annual migration. Foresters recently spotted Don near Bota, the largest jungle inside the sanctuary.

Don at the elephant reserve on Tuesday Picture by Animesh Sengupta

With the holy month of Shravan beginning on July 17 and the Shiv temple atop the hills set to witness rush of the faithful, the authorities are not taking any risks.

“Devotees should take extra precaution and stay away from the elephant. We will shortly fix posters of the tusker at prominent spots across the sanctuary,” said CMP Sinha, the Dalma divisional forest officer (DFO).

The alert will remain in place till the jumbo was at the sanctuary, he added.

Hundreds of devotees visit Dalma’s Shiv temple, especially on Mondays in the month of Shravan. They return the same day after offering water to the god. The devotees generally take two routes to reach the temple. One is from the main entry point at Makulakocha village, while the other leads uphill from Fadlugora along National Highway 33.

“Visitors love clicking pictures of elephants. It is very difficult to predict the mood of elephants and Don is prone to losing his temper,” Sinha said.

“It is always advisable to maintain a distance from elephants. Depending upon their mood, elephants may attack visitors,” he added.

Don is not part of any herd, said another forest officer: “He is a loner who has a habit of attacking and chasing visitors. The elephant had even chased a forest patrol team some four years back.”

Two families from Jamshedpur had a close shave in July 2010 when Don took a liking to their hatchback and played with it for half an hour near the Pinderbera forest guesthouse before abandoning the car near a drain. Foresters saved the families.

In 2014, Don had begun frequenting the Shiv temple and accepting bananas and jaggery from the priests, but a year later the pachyderm went berserk at a potato and tomato farm at Gerua village, barely 35km from Jamshedpur, devouring veggies and chasing away local residents who tried to drive him away.