NEW DELHI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 monkeys were found dead in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said Monday.
The carcasses were found in Garhmukteshwar forest area of Hapur district, about 121 km east of New Delhi, India's national capital.
Forest department officials suspected the monkeys might have been poisoned.
"We came to know that 40 monkeys have been found dead in the bushes at Garhmukteshwar area. Our teams found several watermelons and jaggery cubes at the spot," a forest department official said. "Primarily we suspect monkeys might have got poisoned."
Police teams also reached the spot and a case has been registered to probe the monkey deaths.
"Samples of food items found scattered on the spot have been collected to ascertain if they were laced with any poison," the official said.
Meanwhile, forest department officials have sent some carcasses to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly for autopsy. ■