The 41-year-old tusker, Hariprasad, which was brought from Bihar a year ago, was being taken for bath in the Periyar river last evening, when the animal gave everybody the slip, forest officials said.
As shocked mahouts looked on, the elephant, which had chains on its legs, swam to the opposite bank and went inside the forest yesterday by around 3 PM.
Forest officials tried to search for the animal in vain. The search began at around 8 AM this morning. Before the animal could be traced, it jumped into the waters and tried to swim back to the Kodanad bank when its chain got caught in the rocks, forest officials said.
Water discharge from upstream Bhoothathankettu dam station was stopped for some time to enable the water level to recede in the Periyar river. The animal was then pulled out of water and forest officials tranquilised the elephant, police said.
