Guwahati, Oct 5 (IANS): An elephant died due to electrocution in Assam's Gossaigaon district on Wednesday, officials said.

The incident happened at the Chanfan forest range of Peripur village in the district.

As per the locals, the elephant came out of the forest in search of food where it accidentally touched a high-tension electric line hanging much below the prescribed height.

The villagers have blamed the electricity department and forest officials for this accident.

The forest department was informed by the locals and they went to the spot to recover the body of the elephant.

Notably, the elephants have been seen often coming out of the forest area in search of food in recent times. The human-elephant conflicts have also increased due to which nearly half a dozen people have lost their lives in the last few months.

Last month, a wild elephant entered the Tezpur town of Assam and caused a rampage there. Later, the elephant was pushed back to the jungle by the forest department officials.

The environmentalists have said that Assam has been losing its forest cover in the last decade and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also expressed his concern on this issue. He said that the government was working on different exercises to increase the forest cover in the state.