Overview
- The second elephant was captured Sunday near Jecko village, in what Chief Minister Pema Khandu called a courageous, well-coordinated operation.
- The first animal was tranquilized on April 1 near the Ramakrishna Mission School at Narottam Nagar in Deomali after a focused search that began March 30.
- After months of fatal encounters that killed at least seven people, officials linked the two animals to the deaths of former MLA Kapchen Rajkumar in July 2025 and police officer Martin Lego in February, and urged residents to avoid food waste near homes and plant king chilli as deterrents.
- Arunachal’s forest department led the mission with a 12-member Karnataka expert team headed by veterinarian Dr Ramesha H, with support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Environment Ministry, and the Wildlife Institute of India.
- Crews used AI-enabled thermal drones and equipment brought from the Nagarhole and Bandipur tiger reserves to find and safely sedate the elephants in dense forest.