The wild elephants emerged out of the forest area near Valparai Nadumalai Estate, broke open the window of the Thazhampoo fair price shop and ate rice from the bags inside the shop.
Coimbatore: The movement of wild elephants in the estate areas around Valparai in Coimbatore district has been on the rise for the past few months. Wild elephants have often left the forest cover and entered residential areas, and damaged houses.
Six wild elephants roaming in the forest area of Nadumalai Estate near Valparai entered the residential area of Nadumalai Estate on Tuesday night.
Following this, they broke open the window pane of the Thazhampoo fair price shop and damaged it.
They also ate rice from two bags inside the shop.
On receiving information,forest officials reached the spot and chased away the wild elephants back into the forest.
Alarmed by the frequent occurrence of such incidents, the people of the area have demanded that the Forest Department take immediate steps to prevent wild elephants from leaving the forest area.
A tense situation prevailed in the area for some time after the wild elephants rampaged through the fair price shop.