Phulbani (Odisha), March 14 Three people were killed by separate groups of elephants in the jungles of the Kandhamal district, forest officials said on Saturday.
Two people died in the Damba forest in the Petapanfa gram panchayat on Friday evening, while another man met a similar fate in the Paburia forest on Saturday morning, they said.
All three had gone to the forest to collect firewood, according to Manikeswari Patnaik, the forest range officer in G Udayagiri.
The deceased were identified as Bama Pradhan (63), Kirtan Bugarty (65), and Duri Pradhan (32). The incidents caused panic in the G Udayagiri area, where people prefer to stay indoors, fearing attacks by elephants.
They alleged that the forest department did not inform the people about the movement of elephant herds through their area.
Meanwhile, the forest department is tracking the movement of the elephants using drones, he said.
