Balrampur: An elephant was found dead at a paddy farm in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district on Monday, a forest official said.
A probe was on to find out the cause of the death, he said, adding the jumbo was part of a herd of six elephants that had been roaming in the area for the last couple of days.
The male tusker was found dead in Murka village under the Wadrafnagar forest range in the morning, the official said. After being alerted, forest personnel rushed to the spot and started the process of autopsy, he said.
An investigation was underway to know the exact cause of the elephant's death, which could be electrocution or any other cause, the official said. Earlier, three elephants, including a calf, were electrocuted in a forest area in the state's Raigarh district on October 26.
On November 1, an elephant calf died of electrocution in Bilaspur. Nearly 80 elephants have died in Chhattisgarh in the last six years, with causes ranging from ailments and age to electrocution, officials earlier said.
Human-elephant conflicts in the state's northern part have been a major cause of concern for the last decade. The districts which have been facing the menace mainly are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur and Balrampur.
In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, 11 elephants have died in quick succession since last month at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
