Sajanagad: A herd of 44 elephants from Dalma forest of Jharkhand entered Nilagiri area in Balasore district in the wee hours of Wednesday, triggering panic among local people.
The animals were separated from a huge herd that was holed up in Rasgobindapur in Mayurbhanj district. Now, they were in Gopalpur reserve forest. The animals ate paddy in farmland near the reserve forest, locals said.
Locals were upset as another herd had caused mayhem in the area 15 days ago. Now another herd has left them panicky. Following a directive from Balasore DFO Biswaraj Panda, a team of forest officials, the ranger, the forester and members of Sabuja Bahini have warned people against elephants through a public address system. They keep a close watch on the movement of the animals.
PNN
