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Forest officials said that the male elephant was around 20 years old and it had three gunshot injuries in its body.
The killing has ringed alarm bells among forest officials and conservationists as it is the third elephant to be gunned down in Wayanad district in the last six months.
The carcass of the elephant was found lying in the paddy field by locals early morning. Forest officials led by South Wayanad divisional forest officer Abdul Azeez reached spot at 7 am. Steps are on to conduct the autopsy.
The latest killing comes close on the heels of the arrest of a resort owner in the last week of October for shooting down a wild elephant in retaliation against the action taken by forest officials against his resort.
Locals said that there have been isolated incidents of crop raiding by elephants in the region.