A JCB driver who allegedly injured an elephant with the digger he is accused of stealing has been arrested.
Hard-to-watch footage shows how he kept the bucket raised as the large mammal charged towards the machine at speed.
The unsettling images show how its head collided with the bucket with full force.
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The man then pursued the wounded elephant in the construction machine as it retreated.
Another clip reportedly shows how the same elephant charged into a watchtower earlier that day.
People could be seen running up and down the stairs as the mammal closed in on the concrete structure.
It wobbled and partially crumbled when the elephant slammed into the first floor head-first.
One man could be seen leaping from the floor above as a flight of stairs collapsed.
Local media say the trouble began early on Saturday (1 Feb) when the tusker strayed from the forest.
It reportedly consumed hooch stored in a betel nut garden before roaming around the populated area in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India.
Cruel locals reportedly began pulling its tail, beating it with sticks, and throwing stones at it.
It injured itself on a barbed wire fence as it broke into a tea garden.
It rammed the watchtower after people climbed it and started provoking it with their shouts.
It later injured itself again on the JCB after the man behind the controls began taunting it.
Forest officials and police were reportedly present but struggled to bring the situation under control.
They finally managed to get the elephant to return to the forest that evening using firecrackers.
The man who injured it with the JCB was arrested yesterday (2 Feb) and the machine was seized, as reported by Need To Know.
Local media say he’d taken the digger from forest officials without permission.
The local authorities are now urging tea garden managers to take down their barbed wire fences.
Dwija Pratim Sen of the Gorumara Wildlife Division stated: “Had there been no crowd, the elephant could have been safely guided back to the forest much earlier.
“The Forest department plans to launch an awareness campaign with media outlets to prevent future incidents.”
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