A rogue tusker that caused terror at Dhoni in Palakkad was captured and confined in a kraal. A 72-member team led by Chief Forest Veterinary officer enslaved the wild beast codenamed PT-7 (Palakkad Tusker- 7) in a textbook like operation that lasted for eight hours.

Earlier, on Saturday the forest team tried to catch the elephant but it cleverly eluded them by retreating into an area inside the jungle with steep terrain. The team resumed their operation on Sunday and caught the tusker by tranquiliser darting. As anticipated by the forest team PT-7 returned to the forest fringe on Saturday night. The animal was found at Korma between Dhoni and Mundur at 6 a.m when Dr. Zachariah darted the tusker using an anaesthetic cocktail of Xylazine and Ketamine.

The textbook like operation was co-ordinated by an excellent team consisting of 72-members and three kumkis. Usually in such operations the rump region of the tusker is hit but PT-7 was darted at its left neck region and the sedative lasted for seven hours. The sedative was topped up five times. In 30-minutes the elephant was tranquilised and by using an excavator, a ramp was constructed at the site and a lorry was brought in to carry PT-7. The animal's eyes was covered with a black dhoti to avoid its contact with the kumkis. Water was sprinkled on its head at regular intervals to prevent any reaction under the severe heat of Dhoni region.

The tusker was guided into a lorry with the help of three kumki elephants named Surendran, Vikram and Bharathan. Surendran pushed the elephant into the lorry while the other two kumkis stood by the side of PT-7. The tusker was brought to Dhoni forest camp and confined in a 15ft x 15ft kraal with the help of the kumkis. The kraal was built using eucalyptus logs. It was designed to stand the wrath of the wild tusker and also to protect the animal from getting injured. Hopea parviflora was traditionally used for the purpose of making kraal but the shortage in its availability led the Forest department to choose eucalyptus.