An adult makna or male tusk-less wild elephant died on the fringes of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Alipurduar on Monday night after it came in contact with a live wire laid illegally on an agricultural field to prevent damage by elephants.

Foresters on Tuesday recovered the animal’s carcass and arrested the farm owner, Rabindranath Rai, for illegally laying wires on his plot. Vets who conducted the post-mortem of the elephant confirmed death from electrocution.

A senior forester said they came to know about the elephant carcass lying near the agricultural field at Khoardanga under the Marakhata beat of South Rydak range of the BTR (east) division.

“It had no external injury but only a black spot on its trunk. We suspected the animal died of electrocution, which the vets confirmed later. We have arrested the owner of the plot for illegally laying electric wires,” said BTR field director Subhankar Sengupta.

Rai will be produced at a court here on Wednesday.