Pachyderms destroy houses, crop

RAIRAKHOL: A herd of elephants strayed into Hitasara-Ratakhandi village in Batgaon gram panchayat under Naktiduel forest range on Tuesday night and left behind a trail of destruction. The elephants damaged four houses belonging to Dhanu Sahu, Sushila Swain, Banmali Dehuri and Rapa Dehuri besides destroying standing cash crops. They also trampled upon paddy crops before returning to the nearby forest. Rairakhol DFO Duryodhan Behera distributed relief and made assessment of loss.