Madukkarai Maharaj's reign comes to end

Coimbatore: In a 10-hour, night-long operation that was the climax of a week-long pursuit, forest authorities successfully tranquillised and trapped the elephant nicknamed 'Madukkarai Maharaj' in rural Coimbatore on Sunday morning.
The crop-raiding tusker, which weighs 3,500 kg and is about 20 years old, gave in without much trouble to forest officials after two tranquilliser darts were fired at it.The sedated beast was goaded by kumki elephants to board a truck and sent to the Varakaliyar elephant camp at Top- slip amidst applause by villagers who had gathered to watch the spectacle.
The forest officials were elated after the safe capture; in a botched-up operation in 2011, a sedated tusker fell into a deep pit and died. "It was a flawless operation. We had put in a lot of effort and it paid off," said district forest officer A Periyasamy, Coimbatore forest division.
Soon after the capture, the tusker that destroyed several crops and trampled to death two people, one of them a forest guard, in the Madukkarai area, was escorted to Topslip by the DFO, a pilot vehicle, a veterinary team and kumki Kaleem. It reached the camp by afternoon.
'Mission Madukkarai Maharaj' eventually turned into one of the biggest operations of the forest division, where not just forest staff numbering about 50 personnel, but police, fire service, revenue and health authorities also participated.
The rogue tusker (right), which was causing havoc in and around Madukkarai, being escorted to a truck by akumki elephant after it was tranquilized by forest officials.
After a prolonged wait for the tusker, the forest authorities spotted it alone inside the army camp at Madukkarai on Saturday night, sparking a flurry of activity.
Wildlife doctors, members of the core capture team, and senior forest officials assembled at the spot, even as revenue, police, health and fire service personnel were alerted.
"We started waiting for the tusker to return in its usual path alone. I checked the safety arrangements once again. Wildlife doctors N S Manoharan and E Vijayaragavan and capture team members were waiting inside the military camp close by. Around 4am, the elephant started its return journey and the capture team members with tranquillising guns were put on high alert," said Periyasamy.
Around 4.45am, when the elephant was returning to the forest in its usual path, it was darted. In a half-sedated state, it started moving towards the national highway and then entered the reserve forest area. As it was a safe spot, the forest officials decided to set off the kumkis to corner the tusker to prevent it from running wild.
They brought kumki elephants Kaleem, Pari and Sujai to the spot.
As Sujai approached the lone tusker, it did not resist. The forest guards and anti-poaching watchers tied it with ropes and chains. A truck was taken to the spot and a temporary ramp was made near the site to help it get into the vehicle.
"Around 8.30am, the elephant was loaded onto the vehicle,'' said a forest official.