Panic after elephant strays into human settlement in Sundergarh

Sundergarh: Panic gripped locals of Mission area after an elephant was spotted near Roman Catholic Church premises in Sundergarh district today. It is suspected that the jumbo might have strayed into the human settlement in search of food last night.

On getting information, the forest officials swung into action and launched a massive operation to drive back the elephant into the forest.

"The elephant might have strayed from the Ujjalpur forest range. Forest department officials and two elephant squads are constantly monitoring the movement of the pachyderm" said Forest Range Officer, Ranendra Kumar Swain.

Swain further stated that as it is difficult to drive away the elephant during the daytime, the operation would be launched to drive back the jumbo after sunset.

Meanwhile, Sundergarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and Superintendent of Police (SP) also visited the spot to take stock of the situation.