Sundargarh: A wild elephant was driven away from the Mission area of Sundargarh district Sunday after a 12-hour effort by forest department officials under Operation Gajaraj.
Around 150 officials of Sundargarh police were involved. They used fire, drum and crackers to chase the elephant away from the city to a jungle.
The wild elephant had strayed into the Mission area of Sundargarh Sunday morning. On being informed, forest officials reached the spot, traced the movement of the pachyderm and warned residents to stay away from the Mission area. The operation ended around 6pm.
OPERATION GAJARAJ
- The wild elephant strayed into the Mission area of Sundargarh Sunday morning
- Forest officials reached the spot, traced the movement of the pachyderm
- The operation ended around 6pm
Sunday evening, assistant conservator of forest, Sundargarh division, Tankadhar Behera and Sadar range officer, Runendra Swain, rushed to the spot with a team.
They tried various methods to drive away the elephant. Till the last report came in, the elephant was yet to driven away from the locality. As the area is surrounded by a high boundary wall, the elephant was finding it difficult to escape.
The officials are of the view that the pachyderm might have sneaked in from Jharkhand.
Superintendent of Police Soumya Mishra and DFO Arun Kumar Mishra reached the spot and assessed the situation. Mishra said a close watch on the movement of the elephant is being kept and fresh attempts would be made to drive it away in the night.
PNN
