State forest officials in Jhargram on Thursday night tranquillised an elephant that had reportedly gone on rampage in human habitations, and sent the animal to Buxa forest in Alipurduar after an exercise of nearly 12 hours.

Sources said the move was part of a policy by the forest department to identify elephants entering human habitations repeatedly, resulting in deaths and damage to crops in Jungle Mahal districts.

There are reportedly at least five more such elephants that can cause human-elephant conflict in south Bengal forests, especially Jhargram and West Midnapore.

At least 30 people have died in the last six months in four Jungle Mahal in elephant attacks.

At least 17 persons have been killed by elephants in Jhrgram these past four months.

“We have taken many steps, including sending teams to drive away elephants from the forests adjoining human habitats, but a few elephants did go beyond control. We had no other option for the elephant that we had to tranquillise on Thursday night and send to north Bengal. We may take such a decision for a few more elephants,” said a senior official who was part of a contingent for Thursday’s operation.

Sources said that in the 12-hour operation, senior foresters including the chief conservator of forests (south west) Ashok Pratap Singh, additional CCF (wildlife) Rajesh Kumar and four DFOs including of Jhargram, Sheik Fareed, were present.

Officials said a GPS tracker has been installed in the body of the elephant to follow his movements. “The elephant has been sent to a new place and so keeping a vigil on its movements is important. That is why we set a GPS tracker in its body,” said a source.

Some foresters called the move “desperate”, saying that when a tranquillised elephant is being transported, the consequences can be disastrous if the animal suddenly wakes up.

An official on Friday confirmed that the elephant had reached its destination safely.

Recently, Shambhu and Meenakshi — pet elephants of the forest department — were brought to south Bengal from Jaldapara National Park in Alipurduar to engage them in Jhargram and West Midnapore in controlling wild elephant herds on rampage. In Thursday’s operation, they were used to trace the animal that turned hostile in Jhargram.