The state forest officials said the elephant was a member of the herd that had strayed into Bamundangi village in Nepal, close to the Indo-Nepal border from the Kalabari jungle of North Bengal.

It is alleged that either the Nepalese villagers or the police fired at the herd when the elephant entered the village. Sources said that other members of the herd might also have suffered injuries.

This isn't the first time that such an incident has taken place. On June 18, an elephant was electrocuted when it had strayed into the same village.

A similar incident was reported on June 16, after which the forest department had tracked down an elephant, which had suffered bullet injuries in its legs.

The wildlife experts said that this is not a new phenomena. In the last 30 years, elephant movements were reported in this stretch . “The area from Tukriajhar Reserve Forests to Jhapa police station (in Nepal) have seen such movements in the past as they are an extension of the elephant habitat,” said Dhritikanata Lahiri Chaudhuri, wildlife expert.

In the past five years, as many as 10 elephants have been allegedly gunned down by Nepalese villagers or the Nepal Police. “We have been engaging NGOs on both sides of the border to campaign in the border villages of Nepal against the killing of elephants,” said SS Bist, chief wildlife warden, state forest department. The matter has also been taken up by the state government at the Centre.