by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

•  Cops on toes as Palace elephant runs amuck
•  Providential escape for Mysoreans

Mysore, Mar 16: The citizens of Mysore witnessed a different kind of Jumboo Savari on Wednesday March 15, when a female elephant (of course, not caparisoned), belonging to the scion of Mysore royal family Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, sneaked out of the Palace premises and ran amuck on the city streets.

It was a providential escape for Mysoreans as the menacing elephant did not attack anyone.

The high drama, which began at 7.30 am, ended at around 10.45 am keeping the police and the Palace staff on their toes all along till it returned to Palace, fortunately on its own.

People on the elephant route, puzzled over the unexpected sight of the animal, ran helter-skelter in panic, so also the vehicle riders who drove to their safety.

The elephant, Indira, sneaked out through the Southern Varaha Gate of Mysore Palace when Kavadi Nagesh (kavadis are assistants to mahouts) was bathing the animal. It appears, the elephant got angered as Nagesh was scrubbing its left ear with a stone. It nudged him and charged towards the Varaha Gate.

It was an unusual scene with mahouts and their assistants, armed with clubs, running be-hind the elephant which proceeded menancingly on Purandara Dasa Road to enter Sayyaji Rao Road.

The elephant ran towards Agrahara Circle and then towards Siddappa Square causing panic among the passersby, including many children.

Indira treaded through Nara-yana Shastri Road when the Police personnel joined the Palace staff to 'escort' the animal. The Police team included two jeeps and two Garuda vehicles, which blew sirens all along to alert the people.

By the time the elephant took to Kantharaj Urs Road, thousands of people followed it from a safe distance behind the Police vehicles.

The elephant passed through JLB Road in Lakshmipuram and RTO's Circle. Later, it entered Jayanagar 1st Main (adjacent to rail track) through the railway underbridge.

On seeing a huge crowd, the scared animal rushed into the compound of Eureka Forbes near Jayanagar gate. TheManager, Ashoka, raised alarm on seeing the 'unexpected guest'.

Indira went behind the building and took shelter under a huge tree. As the elephant was relaxing, four more elephants were summoned to the spot to pacify Indira. The group of elephants included Preethi, Chanchal, Seeta and Ruby. They failed in their efforts to cajole the angry Indira.

Though the four elephants surrounded Indira, it escaped through the gates of Eureka Forbes and started its return journey on the same route at the same pace.

The Police and the Palace staff heaved a sigh of relief as Indira entered the Palace premises through the Karikal Thotti Gate.

In fact, its anger did not apparently subside. On reaching the Palace, the elephant collected mud with its trunk and sprayed all over its body. Later, it played with water sucked from the pond and had a bath.

It was an elephantine task for the Palace staff, who chained Indira after struggling for nearly half-an-hour thus bringing the 'Operation Jumbo' to an end. The operation was supervised by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar.