An elephant has trampled to death a 55-year-old man at Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, prompting the forest department to sound an alert in nearby villages, officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred at around 9 pm on Sunday at Dond village in the sanctuary area, Balodabazar Divisional Forest Officer Dhammshil Ganveer said.

After receiving information, a forest department team reached the spot and sent the body of Jahru Ram Netam for a post-mortem, he said.

Immediate assistance of Rs 25,000 was provided to the family of the deceased, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh would be paid after completion of the necessary formalities, he said.

Ganveer appealed to villagers to remain vigilant and follow the forest department's guidelines to prevent incidents of human-wildlife conflict.

The elephant entered the Dond area on Sunday, following which forest department personnel, members of the 'Hathi Mitra Dal' and villagers jointly carried out efforts to track and drive the animal away from the populated area, officials said.

The jumbo later moved towards forested hilly terrain through farm areas, and teams of forest personnel were keeping a tab on its movement. In view of the elephant's possible movement, the forest department has issued a high alert in the nearby villages of Mudpar, Dond, Surbay, Pandadah and others, along with adjoining areas, they said.

Residents have been advised not to venture alone into forests, fields or hilly areas during the night or early morning hours.

Human-elephant conflicts in the northern part of the state have been a major cause of concern for the last decade, while the menace has further spread its footprint in some districts of the central region in the last few years.

The districts that have been facing such incidents mainly are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur.

According to the forest department officials, more than 325 persons were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.

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