Chittor, February 09: Panic gripped Cheedaragattuvaripalli and other villages in Gudipalli mandal after a herd of 27 elephants strayed into the village today wee hours.
The herd went on a rampage damaging the standing crops. In all, 41 acres of crops including 20 acres of paddy, 10 acres of horticulture (flowers), 3 acres of vegetables and 8 acres of sugarcane were destroyed. The nearby mango grove wasn’t spared either; plants were uprooted, branches were broken.
The forest staff led by divisional forest officer (Chittoor West) GV Subba Reddy and forest range officer Mogiliswar Rao reached the village. Elephant trainers along with the villagers set bonfire, burst crackers and beat drums to scare the tuskers away. After a few hours, the herd retreated. However, they came back again, this time into the village tank.
–Agencies