An elephant died of electrocution in Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh after it stepped on a live electric wire laid on the ground by poachers to trap other animals, a Forest Department official said on Saturday.
The incident took place on Friday night on the outskirts of Kishanpur village in the Pithora Forest Range when a herd of four wild elephants was passing from there, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Mahasamund Mayank Pandey said.
After being alerted about it this morning, forest personnel reached the spot and started the process of post-mortem, he said.
"No movement of elephants had been reported in this fringe area of forest in the past. On Thursday, a herd of four elephants had entered from neighbouring Odisha and reached close to Kishanpur on Friday night," Pandey said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that poachers had laid the electric wire trap to kill wild boars. Unfortunately, a female elephant from the herd came in contact with it and got electrocuted, he said.
"We have got clues about the offenders and efforts are on to arrest them," he added.
With the latest fatality, 10 elephants have died in the state due to various reasons, including electrocution, in the last four months.