A five-year-old tusker was electrocuted inside a coffee plantation at Kunnambetta under Meppadi forest range of South Wayanad forest division on Tuesday morning.
According to forest officials, the jumbo was found entangled in a snapped KSEB power line.
South Wayanad divisional forest officer (DFO), Abdul Azeez, said the elephant, which had strayed into the coffee estate, pulled down an areca nut tree and it fell on the electric line.
“The electric line fell over the elephant killing it on the spot,” he said adding that the mishap could have occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday. The estate is situated 1km away from the forest boundary. Meppadi forest range officer B Harichandran said the elephant was standing in a small stream, which could have added to the severity of the shock. Postmortem was carried out by veterinarians of Veterinary university at Pookode.