An elephant and its calf fell into a 20-feet deep well while crossing a farmland in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district, a forest official said on Thursday.

The forest department has initiated an operation since Thursday morning to rescue the jumbos, he said.

The incident happened at Hesapoda village in Parsadih forest under Gola police station limits.

"It appears that both the elephants fell into the well a day before. Villagers informed the forest department on Thursday morning and the rescue team was sent to the spot immediately," Ramgarh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Nitish Kumar told PTI.

He said a herd of 42 elephants was reported in the area for the past one week.

"The herd has now moved towards the Bokaro forest range. We suspect the elephant and its calf were part of the herd and they fell into the well in course of moving to Bokaro," Kumar said.

According to the villagers, the well is in the open and has no protective barrier around it.

"Due to being covered with bushes, the well is not easily visible," they said.

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