Bhubaneswar: People of villages around the Bharati Hill under Bhuban area in Dhenkanal district are in a state of fear now as a herd of about 12 elephants have entered the hill.

According to reports, elephants had not come to the Bharati Hill for the last 10 years. Seeing the wild jumbos, people have panicked, apprehending that they would ate up their paddy plants and damage houses.

The locals have informed the local forest officials, requesting them to drive away the pachyderms into far jungles at the earliest.