A herd of four wild elephants entered a village on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri on Friday, damaging hutments, trees and farms.

Sources said around 5am, the elephant herd from the Baikunthapur forest came to Natunbusty, the village under Patkata panchayat of Jalpaiguri Sadar block.

“Some villagers raised an alarm and all residents (around 250 people) hurried out of their homes with their belongings,” said Pradhan Hembram, the chief of Patkata panchayat.

He added that he went to the village with a megaphone to alert people to maintain a safe distance from the herd.

Many people, including youths from nearby villages, crowded around the elephants to watch them trample on huts.

As the news spread, foresters from Belakoba range and Baikunthapur division rushed to the spot. A team of Kotwali police went to the area to keep the situation under control.

Till late afternoon, the herd had damaged some 10 hutments.

“I have lost my home. Don’t know where we will stay at night,” said Pushpa Biswas, one of the villagers whose hutment was damaged.

Foresters faced problems in controlling the growing crowd of people.

“During daytime, we could not steer the herd back to the forest. We are waiting for sunset after which the herd will be driven back. The department will provide compensation to all those affected by the attack. We are also making necessary arrangements for their relief,” said Manjula Tirkey, assistant divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur forest division.