A rampaging elephant strayed from Baikunthapur forest area and entered Siliguri town, damaging buildings.
The elephant was first spotted at Dabgram, Fulbari areas within ward numbers 30 and 40 of Siliguri town which falls within the limits of Jalpaiguri district.
It became a near-stampede situation as people began running around to dodge the elephant. Forest personnel rushed to the spot to drive away the pachyderm into the forest.
Policemen tried to control the mob and asked the people not to panic. They fired tranquiliser shots at theanimal, the effects of which would not show immediately, forest personnel said.
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