A wild elephant got electrocuted on Wednesday after coming in contact with a live wire laid illegally at a farm in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, an official said.
The carcass of the tusker, aged around 30 years, was recovered from the farm in Medharmar village in the Dharamjaigarh Forest Division, Divisional Forest Officer Manivasagan. S said.
According to preliminary investigation, a farmer had allegedly laid an illegal electricity connection to operate a bore well at his farm. The elephant came in contact with the wire and died, the official said.
Forest Department officials shifted the carcass for postmortem.
A case has been registered and the farmer is being questioned, the official added.
With the latest fatality, nine elephants have died in Chhattisgarh due to various reasons in the last four months. Three of these have died in Raigarh district.
The thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, consisting of Surguja, Korba, Surajpur, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, is known for human-animal conflict.
The region has witnessed several killings of tribals and elephants as well as damage to houses and crops by rogue animals.