The doctor says the elephant is leading a healthy, normal life, and scotches allegations of the elephant being ill-treated.

Murthy catapulted to fame after allegations by Deanna Krantz, project director of Indian Project for Animals and Nature (IPAN) that the animal was being harassed.

Dr Krishnamurthy, perturbed by media reports that the elephant was ill-treated (he was said to have been ``beaten 420 times in 10 minutes''), throws his hands up in despair. ``We have never even used a hook -- right from 1932. A mahout seen using a hook loses his job,'' he said.

The biggest animal so far in captivity, 9'7'' in height and probably theoldest, at 35 years, Dr Krishnamurthy says it was great teamwork that led to the metamorphosis of `Murthy' from a raging tusker to a benign animal, who now grazes alone in hobbles and trails a chain so he can be tracked.

``He is being trained to graze and eventually join his herd,'' the elephant doctor says, adding he was also being given his daily rations. The animal was virtually hand-fed for eight months and was well-attended to as he was being dewormed and vaccinated, he says. A doctor has been stationed permanently at Theppakadu.

Defending his stand on maintaining the animal in a Krall initially, Krishnamurthy said that was their system of training. The elephant was captured by being tranquilised. An ``excellent mahout'', he said, provided training by ``the stick and carrot method''. The Krall was big enough for six elephants to lie down, so as to enable the mahout stay close to the animal. ``He took to it so nicely in 10 days' time that we never even chained him,'' the doctor said, adding that theirsystem was to acclimatise the animal rather than tie it.

C P R Environmental Educational Centre honorary director Nanditha Krishna, who sent a Nilgiris Field Office environmental educator M Kumaravelu and a non-governmental organisation, the Native Medicare Charitable Trust, Coimbatore to investigate the subject, felt that ``while there was cruelty in the initial capture, both of them state that the elephant is wandering around the elephant camp and has improved considerably in health''.

Kumaravelu reported that the elephant was in a large Krall. Murthy was found with several gun-shot wounds and chain-scratches in all his legs, which he received when he was brought to Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary after capture. Now the animal is freed from the Krall and provided with ample green fodder, cooked food and obeys the mahout's commands.

``There is no cruelty to animals, particularly to Makhna,'' the report said. The Native Medicare Trust report too said the elephant was being given good treatment.

Accordingto Mudumalai Wildlife Warden A Udayan, the Makhna, captured on July 12 last year from the forests adjacent to Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary was a regular crop raider in Mudumalai and Wynaad wildlife sanctuary.

The elephant had killed over six persons in the Tamil Nadu forests alone and around eight in Kerala's forests.

In mid-1998, Murthy frequently raided fields in the villages of Padanthurai, Karkampadi and Puliamparai in Gudalur Taluk, terrorising the people, Udayan said.

On studying the animal, Chief Wildlife Warden R P S Katwal granted the permission for tranquilising and capturing it, which was done on July 12 by the forest department staff.

On inspection by Dr Krishnamurthy, the elephant was brought to Theppakadu. The animal was found to have sustained several gun-shot wounds and had struggled quite a bit during capture, receiving injuries in the process. The treatment and care were based on Krishnamurthy's directions, and antibiotics were administered to check the infection.

Murthy was takenout of the Krall on February 6 in the presence of P Prakasam, Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Western Region, Coimbatore. He is now at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp and is leading a healthy, normal life, Udayan added. Forest Department officials claim that reports in the foreign media of harassment were ``totally biased''.