Haridwar, Oct. 2 -- Uttarakhand forest department has launched an investigation after two elephants were found dead under suspicious circumstances within five days in Haridwar forest division. Officials said samples have been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, to ascertain the cause of death. According to divisional forest officer Haridwar Swapnil Anirudh, the first case was reported on September 26 from Rasulpur village in the Khanpur range, while the second incident occurred on September 29 in Shah Mansoor beat. "In Shah Mansoor beat, the elephant was found dead in an agricultural field that had electric fencing. Samples have been sent for testing to WII Dehradun and IVRI Bareilly. We are awaiting the reports," Anirudh said. He added that the department has begun removing illegal electric fencing from agricultural fields. "Due legal action is also being taken against farmers who have installed such fencing," he said. He added that investigations at the sub-divisional level have been started in both cases. In January this year, two elephants had died after infighting in forest range of Lansdowne forest. In April an wild elephant was killed after being hit by a train on the Lalkuan-Bareilly railway track in Nainital district .In June, an eight-year-old elephant was killed after being struck by a train on the Kotdwar-Delhi railway line in Pauri district. In October last year, a 35-year-old female elephant was injured after it was hit by a Haryana Roadways bus near Bel Baba temple on Rampur Road in Haldwani under the Tarai Central Forest division. In December 2023 , an adult elephant died while its calf was injured after being hit by a train engine in Lalkuan area in Nainital district under Terai East forest division . With the increase in the elephant population, the man-elephant conflict is increasing in Uttarakhand's Terai areas, due to which both people and elephants are getting killed. Uttarakhand has over 2000 elephants according to the elephant census conducted by the state forest department, with the state recording a 29.9% increase in elephant numbers since 2015....