Two elephants fell into a ditch in the Bhejia Reserve Forest under the Athagarh Range on Wednesday evening while they coming to eat mangoes in the nearby areas.
The pachyderms couldn't come out of the ditch as it was at least 12-feet deeper filled with at least four feet of mud. When villagers went to collect mangoes from this jungle on Thursday morning, they saw the jumbos in such plight and informed forest officials.An Athagarh forest personnel team led by Range Officer Aisha Akhatari Nisha reached at the spot and rescued the elephants by sliding a JCB machine into the ditch.
Locals say that such ditches in the area are plenty in number as mafias collect granite stones and sell in markets at high price with knowledge of forest and revenue officials.