Angul, June 7: A herd of elephants have killed a villager and damaged property in villages located on the periphery of Talcher coalfield.

Kastu Samal, 40, of Hiloi village, had gone to collect mangoes from a nearby jungle yesterday.

He was attacked by the elephants there and crushed to death. Irate villagers gathered on the spot and tension ran high following the death.

Elephants from Chhendpipada usually come to this belt each year but they return one or two days later to their habitat.

But on May 31, a herd of about 10 elephants, one of them a tusker, strayed into the villages from Gopalprasad and Kandhal area and, so far, seem to be set on staying on.

“Two days ago, this herd entered Kandhal village, near Lingaraj coalmine, damaged eight houses and destroyed property before they were scared away to the forest,” said forest range officer of Talcher Ananta Pradhan.

“The herd killed a villager yesterday and now camps at Dhobapal near Talcher. All our efforts to chase them away have so far yielded no result. This time they prolonged their stay, creating fear among the people. We have about 15 employees and with the help of local people are trying to chase them back to their habitat at Chhendpida,” he said.

Environment activists blame this on forest depletion by coal mining and setting up of industries.

“Massive forest depletion caused by coalmining, steel and power industries in the district, particularly at Talcher and Angul, have destroyed the corridor and habitat of the elephants who earlier used to roam freely from Talcher to Chhendipada. Now there is no forest cover. The day is not far when these animals will trespass into coalmining areas,” warned environmentalist Prasanna Behera.