More than 100 monkeys have died in the village of Dabarsi in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district in the past week, ANI reported on Friday. But Forest Department officials accused the villagers of exaggerating and said they were awaiting autopsy reports.

While initial reports suggested that the animals might have been poisoned, villagers alleged that the monkeys died after eating “chowmein chutney”, News18 reported.

“We have buried most of them,” Rajeev Goel, a villager, told The Times of India. “The incidents have shocked villagers, and we do not know the reason for the death of the monkeys. They may have been poisoned, or they consumed some poisonous food as there is a food product manufacturing factory nearby.”

A veterinary physician who conducted an autopsy on a few of the monkeys told the newspapers that the animals’ lungs had shrunk and their livers were dark. “Prima facie, it seems that they may have suffered from bloody loose motions,” Tejpal Singh said. “When we receive reports of the samples, we can make a concrete statement in this connection.”