After a brief lull, people living in villages near Mayurbhanj headquarters town Baripada are panicky as an elephant herd from the Similipal forest has entered the Hatikote jungle, eight km from here.
The herd, comprising around 12 pachyderms, has already damaged lots of harvested crops and paddy plants in the nearby areas in the last three days, creating panic among the farmers.
In the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, the elephants trumpeted so hard that the villagers around the Hatikote jungle had to spend a sleepless night in fear. The frightened villagers have demanded that the elephants be driven away to the Similipal jungle by forest officials.