Digapahandi: People of this town in Ganjam district were in a state panic Thursday due to the presence of a herd of elephants in the vicinity.
The herd which Wednesday night devoured harvested crops worth lakhs of rupees of the farmers, is holed up on Turukhari Ratanei hill near Chanchadapalli village.
There are seven elephants including two calves and a tusker in the herd, a report said.
At present, fear has gripped the people of Shundhipalli, Malabhanja, Nimapalli, Chanchadapalli, Mathura, Nandagaon, Amalaguda, Talapada, Podabadi, Mahupathar and Nabarangpur villages which are close to Digapahandi town as the elephants continued to damage crops in these areas.
The pachyderms are entering the human habitation and crushing the vegetable farms and harvested paddy under their feet after sun set, the villagers said.
Meanwhile, police and forest officials led by Digapahandi ranger A Madhabilata and ASI Simanchal Mishra Thursday launched an operation to drive away the elephants.
The forest officials, using public address system, asked the people not to pelt stones at the animals and remain alert on their movement. A forest guard Thursday had a narrow escape while he was trying to save a villager from an elephant attack.
The herd has camped in the area for the last eight months and it is difficult to drive them the animals into the Lakhari elephant sanctuary, the ranger said. PNN