Bhubaneswar: A wild elephant strayed into Maitri Vihar area of Bhubaneswar Sunday night, a source said.
The tusker entered Bhubaneswar from Chandaka sanctuary through Bharatpur.
According to the source, the elephant was shooed away towards Salia Sahi slum after roaming in Maitri Vihar for more than an hour. Later, the tusker left the city after a joint effort by Forest Department officials and police.
Notably, the trench dug around the Chandaka wildlife sanctuary to prevent elephants from entering Bhubaneswar has been filled in several places. Even the boundary wall around the sanctuary has been breached in some spots resulting in the straying of elephants towards residential areas, the source added.
In November last year, an incident of elephant intrusion was reported after a wild elephant was spotted near Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar.
In another similar incident March 24, a herd comprising four elephants barged into Sikharchandi hills in Bhubaneswar leading to panic among locals and visitors.
PNN