Dindigul (PTI): Forest officials here had a tough time while driving away a herd of elephants which destroyed crops in the forest areas of Palani and Oddanchattiram in this district.

The officials said a herd of 13 elephants entered Oddanchattiram area near Palani on November 20 and have caused extensive damage to the crops ever since.

Two trained elephants Barani and Vijay, were brought to drive them back to Amaravathi area. With the help of Barani and Vijay, the forest officials managed to drive 12 elephants upto Mochapallam forest limit.

However, one elephant, which got seperated from the herd, chased away the forest officials and local people engaged in driving the elephants back into the forest.

The forest officials also used firecrackers to drive away the elephants, which got divided into two groups of six each at Mochapallam, and the lone elephant, back into the forest.

As it was a fairly long time since the elephants barged into the farms, the forest officials were anxious to drive them back to the forest area.