INSANE VIDEO Shows Giant Elephant Goes On Wild Rampage In India, Lifts Its Own Caretaker With Its Trunk And Hurls Him To The Ground Before Smashing Through Streets, Shops And Power Poles

In a scene of pure chaos and terror, a massive captive elephant suddenly turned on the man feeding it during preparations for a major religious festival in Varanasi, lifting him high with its trunk before slamming him into the ground amid horrified screams from onlookers.

The incident unfolded on Sunday morning at Panchvati ground in Ramnagar, where the elephant, identified as Dhanraj, had been brought from Azamgarh specifically for the world-famous Ramnagar Ramlila, a UNESCO-recognised cultural event.⁠

Around 10:30 am, mahout Chhaplu, a resident of Bairampur in Azamgarh’s Tehbarpur area, approached the animal as it was tied by an iron chain to a tree. What began as a routine feeding quickly turned deadly. The elephant broke free, seized the caretaker with its powerful trunk, slammed him against a wall, and threw him repeatedly to the ground, crushing his chest, thigh, and hand in the process.

Video footage circulating online captures the frantic moments that followed. The enormous animal, still trailing parts of its restraints, charged through the area as people scattered in panic. It tore along the Panchvati-Lanka road, smashed through a market gate, uprooted electric poles, including one carrying a high-voltage line that triggered a nearly two-hour power outage, snapped tree branches, damaged small shops and destroyed a tin shed outside a nearby house.

Police, forest department officials, NDRF teams and around 200 locals rushed to the scene, barricading roads and diverting traffic as the Ramlila performance was suspended. Other mahouts tried desperately to calm the animal by offering sugarcane, but the efforts failed for hours. The elephant remained highly agitated, moving between open ground, roads and wooded areas while residents fled for safety.⁠

Ramnagar police station in-charge Sanjay Mishra said the elephant “suddenly became uncontrollable for an unknown reason and attacked the mahout.” Assistant commissioner of police Vijay Pratap Singh confirmed forest teams were on site coordinating containment.⁠

With local resources stretched, a specialist four-member team from Gorakhpur Zoo, led by deputy director Dr Yogesh Pratap Singh, was called in. They arrived with medicines and a tranquiliser gun. After assessing the animal’s condition and surroundings, they administered the strong sedative Xylazine late on Sunday night, finally bringing the rampaging elephant under control after many hours of danger.⁠

Chhaplu was rushed first to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and then transferred to the trauma centre at Banaras Hindu University. Doctors treated him for serious injuries; his condition was later reported to be out of danger, though the physical and psychological trauma of being attacked by the animal he cared for will linger.⁠

The episode has left the local community shaken. The Ramnagar Ramlila traditionally features elephants in processions linked to the area’s historic royal family. Still, incidents like this underline the risks when large, powerful animals are brought into crowded public spaces. No official cause for the sudden aggression has been confirmed, though stress, confinement, or an unidentified trigger are common factors in such cases involving captive elephants.

Authorities continue to monitor the situation, with the elephant isolated and the area secured. For those who witnessed the footage, the trunk lifting a man into the air, the frantic scramble of bystanders, the later images of the injured caretaker being carried toward an ambulance, the terror of the moment remains raw.