Forest officials on Wednesday seized the decomposed carcass of an elephant from Chhelia forest near Keseipali village under Loisingha forest range.
The elephant is believed to have been killed 10 to 15 days back and its tusks were missing. Villagers of Kesheipali spotted the carcass and informed the forest officials.
“Though we cannot say anything now, but it seems like a case of poaching. The elephant was about 10-year-old and it might have strayed from its herd,” said Divisional Forest Officer of Balangir Abhiram Naik.
He added that the postmortem report of the animal is awaited and anyone found guilty of poaching would be arrested.
Chellia forest falls within the elephant corridor in the region.
