Polling officials were still settling in, voters were trickling towards the booth, and then came 'Ramlal' — swaying past the queue, peering curiously at a parked vehicle, and momentarily holding up the democratic exercise with its own brand of silent assertion
For the first time dog squad was used to trace the elephant in the operation.
Officials said the animal is a sub-adult, which may have recently split from its herd and is trying to find a niche for itself to occupy in the fragmented Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) landscape.
The elephant turned aggressive while being led for the Sheeveli ritual at the Thadukkassery Nagankulangara Temple