Angul: A herd of elephants has strayed into villages on the outskirts of Talcher town, causing panic among the local people for the second day on Thursday.

The jumbos have destroyed paddy and sugarcane crops in vast areas. However, there is no report of any human injury or causalty yet.

A herd of about 24 elephants, including three tuskers, entered kakudi village near the town by crossing Brahmani river migrating from Parjang in adjoining Dhenkanal district.

"We are panic-stricken seeing such a large number of elephants in our village. They damaged our sugar cane crops and also destroyed vegetable crops in our field." said a villager.

About 25 forest officials, led by local ranger Trilochan Behera, are trying to tackle the situation. Forest officials who have been with them since Wednesday morning are making efforts to keep the elephants at bay from the nearby Talcher coal city. "Our people are constantly monitoring their movement to prevent the herd from straying into urban areas," said the divisional forest officer of Angul Kartik V.