Shillong, June 13 -A female elephant was found dead in Chapahati village in Meghalaya’s South West Garo Hills district on Friday, a wildlife official said on Saturday.

A wildlife official said the villagers, who were proceeding to their agricultural fields, sighted the dead elephant at Duragapara area and informed the police who subsequently alerted the Wildlife officials.

“It appears that the elephant has been hit by a spear-like object as it has suffered an injury at its back. A team of wildlife personnel have conducted a post mortem to ascertain the exact cause of the death,” Divisional Forest Officer for Wildlife, Arpiyush Ch Sangma said.

The post-mortem report of the tusker is awaited.

“The elephants must have moved between India and Bangladesh. We are unsure if the elephant had inflicted the injury in India or Bangladesh. It may have strayed into the human habitation or paddy fields after which it was possibly attacked by people or being trapped by poachers, leading to its death,” Sangma said.

Moreover, he said that the site where the elephant was found dead is around 900 metres away from India-Bangladesh border.

South West Garo Hills district falls under the famed ‘elephant corridor with the elephants known to juggle between the borders of Bangladesh and India in herds.