Guwahati, Sept. 25 -- The transfer of five young captive elephants from Assam to Tamil Nadu temples has triggered mounting questions over their ownership, provenance and the circumstances under which they were moved, including claims that some of the elephants described as "donated" may have actually been purchased by Tamil Nadu religious institutions.

Four more elephants-Hiralal, Shiva, Rupsing and Bijuli-have now followed five-year-old Durga, who reached the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai on September 14 after travelling nearly 3,000 kilometres from Assam.

Hiralal and Shiva reached the Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai, while Rupsing was taken to the Sri Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple at Vaitheeswaran Koil in Nagapattinam...