JOIN USCrops worth lakhs were destroyed by a herd of elephants in Janekere, Kalgane and surrounding villages from late Thursday night to Friday evening.
A total of 13 elephants, including calves have destroyed paddy, banana, arecanut and lemon crops belonging to Puttaswamigowda, B R Lokesh, Ningappa Gowda, Chandrashekar and Nagaraj of Bagarahalli village of Janekere village.
In the land belonging to Puttaswamigowda, about 500 plantains grown in two acres of land were destroyed. Pump sets installed to supply water for the land were also demolished by the herd of elephants.
During the early hours of Monday, elephants damaged coffee plantations in Kalgane village of the taluk.
Six elephants attacked Prakruthi estate, while the remaining seven damaged crops in an estate belonging to Gangadhar.
Forest officials had a hard time controlling the crowd who had gathered at the venue.
Despite repeated requests, some youths were seen following the elephants, causing unrest among the herd.During the week, the herd of elephants have claimed the lives of a farmer and a labourer in Ballupete and Adaravalli estate.
With news of elephants damaging farms in the village, women and children of the village remained at the safety of their homes.
Some parents did not send their children to schools owing to a threat posed by the elephants.