Elephants destroy crops worth lakhs of rupees

A herd of three elephants destroyed crops worth lakhs of rupees straying into the villages on the periphery of Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuary, in the taluk.

Following this, the Forest Department, with the help of tamed elephants Abhimanyu and Krishna and 50 department personnel launched a combing operation on Saturday. On the first day, they searched 250 acres, but the jumbos could not be spotted.

The personnel continued the search operation on the second day on Sunday at 150 acres of forest area, but could not trace the wild jumbos, according to Range Forest Officer Surendra. It is suspected that the elephants might have returned to the Chennamma Devara forest region, due to the commotion created by the villagers, he said. However, the personnel is camping in the forest.