A 12-year-old elephant was found dead with its tusks missing inside a forest in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district, an official said on Saturday.
The official said whether the male pachyderm died a natural death or was killed could be confirmed only after getting the postmortem examination report.
The carcass of the elephant was found in Gormora forest Friday afternoon.
"When we reached the spot after getting the information from villagers, we found that two tusks of the dead elephant missing. It seems they were chopped off," Mandu forest range officer Suresh Ram told PTI.
He said that a search operation was launched for the missing tusks.
"We are interrogating local cattle herders, as they are the regular visitors of the forest," he said.
With this, carcasses of three elephants were found in Jharkhand for three consecutive months.
A pregnant elephant was found dead in Palamu Tiger Reserve on August 16. People also spotted the carcass of an adult male elephant in a forest in Ranchi district on July 23.
Jharkhand Woman Dies Mid-Way While Being Carried To Hospital On Cot 3 Travelling On Roof Of Bus Die Of Electrocution In Jharkhand: Police Jharkhand's Hemant Soren Meets Arvind Kejriwal's Wife In Delhi Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms BJP Subtly Asking Ajit Pawar To Quit "Mahayuti": Sharad Pawar's NCP Biden Says Could Drop Election Bid If "Medical Condition" Emerged Russia Says It's Ready To Work With Any US Leader 3 People Die After Drowning In Lake In Telangana: Cops Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.