Guwahati/Dergaon, Jan. 15: A straying female rhino that fatally injured a woman in a Golaghat village yesterday before getting stuck in a ditch, went berserk today moments after being pulled out by forest officials.

A large crowd had gathered at Madhupurpathar this morning to watch the rescue operation of the “killer” rhino that had strayed from Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday night accompanied by a male, probably to mate.

Minutes after forest officials heaved the large animal out of the ditch, she charged at the gathering, prompting the curious onlookers to run for their lives.

The rhino, however, was not willing to give up easily.

She vented her anger on the largest object in sight, a Mahindra Bolero jeep belonging to a wildlife NGO which had tried to help the forest department.

The straying rhino had forced forest officials to cut short their Bihu celebrations yesterday and rush to Madhupurpathar, some 9km from Kaziranga, after villagers reported that she was trapped in a ditch.

Though the male was chased back to the park yesterday, the officials decided to reserve the rescue operation for today.

After being pulled out from the ditch, it took the rhino only a while to park herself in a dry pond near Kuruabahi Higher Secondary School.

She finally moved to a lowland, about 15km from the park.

Kaziranga National Park director S.N. Buragohain said since the area is not too deep and without water, “we have decided to let her stay there for the night. We will try and chase the rhino in the direction of the park tomorrow morning”.

Phuleswari Ghatowar, who was hit by the rhino yesterday, succumbed to her injuries at the Golaghat Civil Hospital today, Buragohain said.

“The rhino may have a calf and that could be the reason why she is so ferocious,” a forest department official said.