The Brahmaputra River brings melted Himalayan snow on a long, winding southward journey, to reach Bangladesh as water, in Kurigram. To fill the stomachs of fisher families the river hosts the fish that swim around the border, either side. Every day the mighty river brings gifts to Kurigram, many things. Sometimes the river can even bring an elephant.

At 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 28 June 2016 at the Saheber Alga frontier of river islands in Ulipur upazila a wild elephant crossed the border. "It came floating with the river currents to the island of Char Bagua," says forest officer Ahasan Habib.

"It crossed the border beside pillar no. 1051," says Border Guard Bangladesh officer, Nayeb Subedar Reza.

Until early the next morning the wayward pachyderm roamed there, and on nearby Char Kazia where, at 1 a.m., a fisherman perchance arrived at the shoal. Suddenly the unexpected elephant charged the fisherman, chasing him right into the water where luckily, he was able to escape by boat.

Before dawn the elephant had floated towards Baro Char in Astomirchar union of Chilmari upazila, a distance of 18 kilometres. Unlike the previous uninhabited islands, here were houses, and the elephant damaged three, as well as farming equipment, when villagers tried to make it flee.

"Locals informed us about the elephant they'd found that morning," says Masud Parvez, officer-in-charge of Dhushmara river police station, who assigned guards to keep watch. "We tried to give banana trees for it to eat. We are waiting for forest officials."

By afternoon the elephant arrived in Nayerhat union, reaching Khodaimari area by 4 p.m. At the time of writing it's still there.

"I have informed our local administration and higher authorities about the elephant," says Ahasan. "Experts are coming from Dhaka and Rajshahi to catch it, and the forest departments of Assam, Meghalaya and New Delhi have been informed."

Assam is also sending forestry officials to Kurigram which is just as well, because while the Brahmaputra might bring an elephant to Bangladesh, it's unlikely to take an elephant back again.