Bargarh: Forest officials found the carcass of a tusker from a jungle between Dunguri and Lether near Ambabhona in Bargarh district Thursday morning.
The elephant is said to be 20-year-old.
Preliminary inquiries suggested that poachers might have laid live electric wires to trap wild boars. But, instead of wild boars, the pachyderm was electrocuted.
The poachers took away one of its tusks.
Veterinarian Srikant Parida who conducted the post-mortem of the carcass, said the elephant died of electrocution. Several burn injuries were also found on the carcass.
Some villagers spotted the carcass Wednesday evening and informed the forest officials.
A team of forest officials reached the spot Thursday morning. The carcass was buried in the forest after post-mortem.
A couple of months ago, an elephant calf which was suffering from pneumonia died at Jarimuli.
Similarly, two female elephants died of electrocution at Junani three years ago.
Despite a ban on international trade for ivory, elephants are still being poached in large numbers.
PNN