Minor tension prevailed in a village near Coimbatore after a herd of wild elephants camped in an agricultural field on Saturday. A 30-member team started to chase the elephants back to the forest on Saturday evening.
The Forest Department staff said six elephants strayed from the forest into Madampatti village on Friday night. The elephants raided agricultural fields and headed towards a place called Sennanur.
Villagers informed the Boluvampatti forest range office and field staff reached the spot on Saturday morning. The elephants remained in a plantation and continued to raid crops. The herd did not move as water was also available.
According to Forest Department officials, the staff did not try to chase the elephants from the plantation during the day considering the movement of people in the locality. Efforts to drive out the elephants started on Saturday evening by the team from Boluvampatti, Madukkarai and Coimbatore forest ranges.
District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar said two Assistant Conservators of Forests were heading the operation.
