Keonjhar: A distressed tusker having injury marks on its legs and trunk has become a cause of worry for wildlife personnel as the animal has turned violent and furiously limping around the forest-side villages.

The animal was last seen at Chamakpur-Dudu forest areas in Champua forest range about 48 hours ago. At present, the pachyderm is nowhere is in sight. It has turned violent due to the physical pain from the inflicted wounds. People living on the fringes of forest areas are panic-stricken by the elephant's trumpeting. "There is a strong possibility of the animal straying into human habitations," said forest range officer, Champua forest range, Ghanashyam Barik.

"We are trying our level best to treat the wounds of the animal. At the same time, we want to stop the destruction caused by the elephant," Barik said.

However, tracking the elephant has become an uphill task as it is raining in torrents since past two days. More than 150 skilled wildlife personnel of the elephant squad are on the job to locate the whereabouts of the injured animal, said a forest official.

The tusker had got separated from the herd of 14 elephants and had strayed into sparsely populated tribal villages lying close to the forested areas last week. The animal is about 30-year-old and has damaged croplands and least six houses. The animal was last spotted in the forest on Sunday by anti-poaching squad personnel.

The forest department has decided to tranquillise the animal to treat its wounds. The animal might have got injured while damaging houses last week. It could be a retaliatory attack by local residents which might have injured the jumbo. "The possibility of injury due to assault by poachers can't ruled out," said a forest official.

On March 2017, forest officials of Athgarh had come to the rescue of a distressed elephant. The animal's leg was stuck into a tyre for nearly two months. It was tranquillised and the tyre was removed. The animal was relieved from pain by the treatment of veterinary surgeons.