Guwahati, Sept. 9 -- Serious questions are being raised over the Assam Forest Department's handling of captive elephants after a female elephant, Durga, was allegedly moved out of Manas National Park in the dead of night and transported to a temple in Tamil Nadu-without any public disclosure from the department.

Sources said Durga was secretly shifted from Manas National Park to the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai in Tamil Nadu, late on Monday night (September 7, 2026). The elephant was reportedly loaded onto a truck bearing registration number DD 01A 9525 and transported towards Tamil Nadu.

The alleged clandestine movement has triggered sharp questions over who authorised the transfer, under what legal provisions it was carried out, where ...