This is the dramatic moment a wild elephant attacked a watchtower after locals allegedly provoked it in India.

Residents reportedly harassed the jumbo when it emerged from Apalchand Forest looking for food, prompting it to charge at onlookers. It then turned its sights on the construction equipment and a watch post in Damdim, West Bengal, on Saturday, February 1.

Shocking footage shows the massive elephant ramming the lookout structure with locals inside.

Bystanders rushed towards the creature in the open field, following it as it turned away before the video clip ended.

Local media reported that the helpless tusker suffered injuries to its forehead and trunk, while no one else sustained injuries in the encounter. The animal was later transported back to the forest.

Koustav Choudhury, executive director at SNAP Foundation, said: 'As it came out of the forest, it encountered an earthmover machine near one of the tea estates in the area. The machine driver, instead of staying calm, kept the machine on with the excavator bucket raised in a vertical position.

'The jumbo probably took it as a challenge and hit the machine with its head. Though it soon turned back and moved the other way, the machine and the locals present kept chasing it.

'We estimated that there were more than 6,000 people in the area.'

Wildlife experts speculated that the bull was in 'musth' - a hormonal cycle in male elephants that causes behavioural and physiological changes.

By Sunday night, the JCB driver was apprehended, and the machine was confiscated.

The arrest followed widespread demands for the perpetrator to be held accountable for their cruel actions.

In the Dooars region, wild elephants frequently wander through the settlements of Jalpaiguri, Naxalbari, Siliguri, and Bagdogra in search of food.

While locals generally maintain a safe distance and refrain from harming these animals, authorities stated that incidents like this underscore the importance of awareness.

The sub-continent has at least 30,000 wild elephants - more than any other country and approximately 60 per cent of the world's entire Asian elephant population.

Many more elephants are held in captivity in India. They are used for religious events and weddings.