The carcass of a sub-adult male elephant was found in the drain of a tea estate in Alipurduar district near the forests of Buxa Tiger Reserve on Thursday.

Sources said some workers of the Nimti Jhora tea estate spotted the carcass while heading to the plantations on Thursday. Foresters, who were told, reached the spot and found footprints of elephants.

“We suspect a herd entered the plantations and the sub-adult elephant fell in the drain and died. We can confirm the cause of death only after post-mortem,” said a forester.