Jajpur (Odisha), Mar 5 (PTI) Traffic movement on the National Highway-16 between Jaraka and Barabati stretch in Odisha's Jajpur district was Wednesday disrupted for about 45 minutes due to a havoc created by a wild elephant, police said.

It is suspected that the animal strayed into the region from the Tomka Reserve Forest in the Jajpur district.

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For about 45 minutes, the elephant walked on the highway followed by three forest department vehicles at a distance. Later, the animal left the road and went towards agricultural fields.

Officials said the wild tusker has strayed into some villages under Jajpur, Rasulpur and Dharmasala blocks of the district.

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Residents of Chainipur and Ganeswarpur villages in Jajpur block said they had spotted the wild elephant on Tuesday night. When they chased the wild animal by beating drums and displaying light, it went towards Baruan in the district last night.

Residents of Rajendrapur village in Rasulpur block said they had noticed the jumbo in their area in the early hours of Wednesday. The wild elephant destroyed some vegetable cropland in the areas following which they chased it and the wild elephant then moved towards the Dharmasala area.

It then reached Deuli village after crossing Gopalpur, Prathama Kandi and Barabati villages this morning. Subsequently, it marched to Gokarneswar temple and reached National Highway no-16 on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, fear gripped among the residents of Jaraka, Deuli, Kumari villages who stayed indoors and urged forest department officials to chase the elephant away from the area as soon as possible.

Forest department officials are trying to direct the elephant toward the nearby forest to alleviate the distress felt by residents.

Despite the best efforts of the forest authorities and local police, villagers remain vigilant as fear and anxiety pervade the area, with many staying alert for any potential return of the elephant.

“We are trying to drive it away from the area and take it to its natural habitat areas of Tomka forest,” said a forest official.

However, there was no report on loss of life or property in the area, police said adding that the wild tusker was in the Rasulpur area when the last report came in.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)