Twelve deer were found dead near a water body in Chhattigsarh's Dhamtari district on Saturday, a forest official said.

The incident happened at Mohlai village in Keregaon forest range, around 100 kilometres from state capital Raipur, and it is suspected that the animals died due to water poisoning, said Amitabh Vajpayee, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Dhamtari.

Local residents alerted authorities about carcasses of 12 deer lying near a mine filled with water after rainfall in the area recently, he said.

He said the water might have been poisoned by some people and autopsy being conducted on the carcasses would provide more details on the cause of death.

According to police and forest officials, the murum mine is operated by a contractor of Mohlai village.

Officials said the area where the incident happened has been cordoned off to find out if more animals have fallen ill after consuming water from the mine.

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