After destroying homes, tuskers also ate up all the cereals and foodgrains stored in the houses.
Forest officers claimed that the tuskers were apparently drawn from their habitat by the strong smell of Hadiya sharab, a kind of country liquor popular in the tribal area of Chhattisgarh, and proceeded to ransack the village.
According to forest officials, Sarangajogi village is surrounded by forest and mountains. Nearly 400 Korba villages reside in 56 houses of Sarangajogi village. The village neither has road connectivity nor has the facility of electricity.
A herd of wild elephants created ruckus in the village in the last three days and destroyed nine houses.
Mahato Korva, a resident of Sarangajogi village, was busy in preparations for his son’s marriage ceremony when the herd of elephants attacked his house. As per the village tradition, father of the groom prepares Hadiya Sharab and also looks into food arrangements for the guests attending the marriage ceremony. But as soon as the pungent smell of liquor spread in the vicinity, the wild tuskers ransacked the village, gulped down the liquor and ate up all the cereals kept in the house. Now, the marriage has been postponed.
According to sources, the herd of elephants destroyed 26 houses in Kusmi range in last one week.