Balangir: A herd of elephants strayed into villages in the Loisingha forest range on Wednesday night and destroyed paddy and vegetable crops.

Some migrant workers from Chhattisgarh luckily escaped the animals' attack. The presence of the herd has left the villagers a panicked lot and they have been forced to stay indoors after evening. Forest officials, however, said they were monitoring the herd's movement. It is said to be consisting of around 35 elephants.

The herd first strayed into a vegetable field at Burobadi village and destroyed crops. They also ate brinjals hoarded in seven bags and were kept for selling. The animals then entered a nearby school. A group of 10 migrant workers, who were sleeping there, fled the spot. The elephants damaged a paddy field as well.

Jibardhan Bhoi, a vegetable farmer of Burobadi village, said the elephants had been wreaking havoc in the area for the past few days.

"The animals have completely ravaged my vegetable field. They also ate the brinjals I had kept there for selling. This is huge loss for me," Bhoi said.

In the past three days, the elephants also damaged crops and vegetables at Dhauradadar and Tentelkhunti villages. Keshav Padhan, another vegetable farmer, said: "The animals did not stop at destroying my vegetable crops. They also damaged the machines and pipes I bought for drip irrigation system," he said.

Loisingha forest range officer Raj Kishor Naik admitted that a herd of elephant was roaming around at the spot. "We are monitoring their movement," Naik said.