A male elephant was stuck in the Rengali canal under the Parjang police limits in Dhenkanal district on Wednesday.
The tusker fell into the canal after attacking and injuring one Panchanan Sahu of Chandpur village while he was working at a farmland at around 7.30 am.
The elephant’s repeated attempts to come out of the canal yielded no result due to high water current.
Being informed by locals, Forest Department officials reached the spot and launched an operation to rescue the animal.
However, the elephant came out of the canal on its own after its hour-long effort.
The animal then attacked one Mantri Roul of Barihapur village, leaving him critically injured.
He was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment.
Forest officials were trying to ward off the elephant from the area, reports said.
