Bankura, July 20: A 75-year-old Bankura woman was killed early this morning when she came in the way of two elephants which had strayed into the village.

The elephants, which forest officials said were “resident animals” (that stay on in an area for more than six months), had come from the nearby Belboni jungles and started destroying huts and devoured stocked grains in Uporbandh at 2.30am.

While most of the villagers, alerted by night guards, ran out of their huts to chase the animals away, Gyanoda Ghorai, in an attempt to seek safer ground, came in way of the elephants.

“One of the elephants picked her up on its trunk and threw her some metres away, killing the woman on the spot,” a villager said.

The divisional forest officer of Bankura north, S. Kolandeival, said the elephants were part of a four-member herd and were possibly separated.

The forest department has already given the woman’s family Rs 50,000 and another Rs 50,000 will be given after post-mortem, he added.

In another village, 70km from Uporbandh, three other elephants from the Borjora forest area damaged houses and school buildings in search of food.

According to villagers of Sitala, stacks of rice kept in several granaries were destroyed. The three elephants also entered a school where food grains were stored for mid-day meals and devoured them.

“We will start an operation tomorrow to drive out the roving herds from the area,” Kolandeival said.