As many as 13 monkeys were found dead in a reservoir suspected to have been poisoned in Cachar district of Assam.

Officials confirmed that they were found dead in the Katirail water supply plant of the Public Health Engineering Department in Silchar subdivision.

According to Pradipta K Dey, Junior Engineer in the department, the bodies of monkeys were found afloat in a reservoir of the Katirail water supply plant.

‘Forest officials have retrieved the bodies and sent them for post-mortem examination. Though the exact reason for the simians death will be known after getting the autopsy report, it is suspected that some people might have poisoned the reservoir,’ NDTV quoted him as saying.

Locals too suggest that the monkeys may have been poisoned, and they dived into the water tank to alleviate the pain.

While the area where the incident occurred comes under the Cachar district, wildlife is under the jurisdiction of Karimganj Divisional Forest Office.

‘It is a very heartbreaking incident and the department has started an investigation into the matter,’ India Today quoted Karimganj Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jalnur Ali as saying.

‘These are local monkeys. We have already sent the recovered bodies for a post-mortem. We have started our investigation and we will take strong action against those found guilty,’ he added.

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