A carcass of a male elephant was recovered from Buridehing river at Dehing-Patkai National Park in Dibrugarh.
It is suspected that the elephant died due to drowning, however, the exact cause of his death is yet to be ascertained, a forest official said.
Meanwhile, environmentalists suspect that the elephant was poisoned by poachers.
An environmentalist who was present at the scene claimed that blood was coming out from the elephant's mouth when it was spotted. He also reiterated that many elephants were killed by poachers a few years ago at Lakhipathar forest.
It is noteworthy that many elephants were found to have died due to anthrax at the national park last year.