The body of an elephant was found lying dead in a forest near Sunhaja village of Betanti Range Morada Block Durgapur Reserve Forest under Baripada forest division . An investigation led by ACF Rabinarayan Mohanty and Ranger Manuwar Khan was conducted at the scene of the incident, but the elephant's body was not necropsied as it was late in the evening. 

It is said that the exact cause of the elephant's death will be known only after the autopsy on Thursday. It is assumed that it may have died in a fight between two tuskers due to the presence of footprints of multiple elephants at the place where the dead body of the elephant was found.

However, the villagers said that they saw two elephants fighting for three days. It is assumed that the dead body of Dantahati had fallen in the mud and was swollen within 24 hours. The dead tusker is sterile and aged between eight and ten years. For the past few days, more than 60 elephants have been living in small herds in different parts of this range. Some elephants were also living in the forest near Sunahja village.

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