A wild elephant was found dead on the premises of Binnaguri Military Station here on Monday morning.

The elephant — a ‘makna’ or male without tusks — is suspected to have died due to infighting. Sources said the forest officials had recovered the carcass and it was taken to the Gorumara National Park for post-mortem and cremation.

“Preliminary probe suggests that the animal has died of infighting. There are multiple injury marks on the carcass. We can, however, confirm the cause of death only after the autopsy report reaches us,” said Ravikant Sinha, the principal chief conservator of forests of the state.

Sima Chowdhury, an honorary wildlife warden, said: “Male elephants fight with each other over possession of females. This at times, also leads to deaths.”

Deer horns

The Sashastra Seema Bal and state forest department in a joint operation seized 13 deer horns and arrested three persons at Madarihat in Alipurduar district on Monday.

The trio was carrying the horns to Siliguri, said sources.