Guwahati, Nov. 19: A domestic elephant in musth killed an elderly person, damaged a vehicle and attacked a CRPF camp along the Assam-Nagaland border this morning before being shot at by jawans at the camp.

The injured elephant is battling for life inside a jungle in Panikhaiti in Jorhat district bordering Golaghat along the Nagaland foot- hills. Forest department staff and police have cordo-ned off the area.

The CRPF, however, denied opening fire at the “mad” elephant. “Our men fired in the air to scare off the elephant. But as the elephant was entering Nagaland territory, we heard gunshots, probably fired by Naga militants,” Dilpal Singh Rana, the commandant of the Kalajan-based 142 CRPF unit, said over phone.

“The elephant could be injured by bullets fired by Naga militants,” he added.

However, Dilip Chutia, the son of the elephant’s owner, Haru Chutia of Arnapurna village under Borholla police station in Jorhat district, told this correspondent over phone today, “I saw the elephant this morning as it was entering the CRPF camp at Kalajan. I noticed the jawans at the camp opening fire. I saw Dil running away towards the jungle with blood oozing out from several parts of its body.”

Dilip said the elephant, Dil, was in a state of musth since Saturday. The animal somehow managed to free itself from the chain with which it was tied and tethered to a tree.

After freeing itself on Saturday night, the elephant wreaked havoc in the area, damaging houses on the both the Assam and Nagaland sides of the inter-state boundary.

T. Khan, a forest official from Jorhat district, said the elephant’s owner had called him up on Monday, informing him about the animal’s state.

“I directed the owner to contact a veterinarian immediately so that the elephant could be tranquillised. Since then, there was no information from the owner till this morning,” he added.

He said the owner was trying on his own to capture the elephant with the help of another elephant, Lakshmi, which also belonged to him. “When their efforts failed, the owner called me up this morning,” Khan added.

Before help could arrive, the elephant crossed over to Kalajan village in Golaghat district and attacked Mahendra Kachari, 70, at his residence. Kachari died on the spot. The elephant also damaged a Tata Sumo belonging to Kachari’s family.

The divisional forest officer of Golaghat, A. Anand, said forest department and security personnel had cordoned off Panikhaiti and were preparing to tranquillise the elephant tomorrow.

“The tranquilliser gun has been brought from Guwahati and we are waiting for the veterinarian to arrive,” he added.

Bhaw Polong, the elephant’s previous owner, had handed over Dil to Haru Chutia in February, as he was unable to bear the cost of keeping the animal.

“I used Dil to pull logs in a few saw mills located along the Assam-Nagaland border,” Chutia said.