Tezpur, April 1: Wild elephants have unleashed terror among the villagers of Dolohat in Lakhimpur district, trampling two people to death over the past couple of days.

A 60-year-old woman succumbed to injuries to her head and legs after the herd attacked her as she left home for a naamghar around 8.30pm yesterday to watch a bhaona at Dhemagarh village in Dolohat.

On Saturday, Gaju Bahadur Rai, 50, met with a similar fate while he set out for his daily chores.

According to sources, the herd of 60 elephants has strayed out of the Ranga reserve forest, 15km from Dolohat under Laluk police station.

“The herd has destroyed several banana trees in the villages and damaged a few thatched houses. Our forest personnel are trying to evacuate the herd,” Krishna Patgiri, assistant conservator of forests, Lakhimpur division, told this correspondent.

Ranga reserve forest, along with other reserved forests, has become a hub for timber smugglers, whose activities are leading to shrinkage of elephant habitats in bordering Arunachal Pradesh.

The problem of man-elephant conflict has assumed serious proportions in the state, despite the forest department claiming to have taken measures to check it.