Foresters of the Baikunthapur forest division recovered an elephant carcass from Dudhia Char, a locality in the Jalpaiguri district on Monday.

Sources said some residents of Mantadari, a village under the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri that is around 25 kilometres from here, spotted the carcass lying next to a paddy field.

They informed foresters of the Belakoba forest range and soon a team rushed to the spot. The elephant, they said, is a “makna” (male elephant without tusk).

A forest official said they had found injury marks in the animal's truck. The area has been cordoned off to find out whether there is any foul play that has led to the elephant's death.

He mentioned that elephants often stray into villages like Dudhia, Mantadari, Takimari and Milanpally on the fringes of the Baikunthapur forest.

“Elephants often enter these localities. The forest department is aware of it but does little to stop the animals from getting into our villages. We spent sleepless nights to save our crops,” said a villager.

Earlier, there had been incidents when elephants died due to electrocution as a section of villagers laid live wire in their fields to save their crops. During preliminary investigation, foresters have not found any such wire at the spot.

M.Tirkey, the additional divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur forest division said vets have conducted post mortem of the carcass.

“We are waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of its death,” he said.