Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh), Nov 19 (IANS): Four peacocks were found dead and as many found unconscious in a sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district.

The birds were found on Monday, and the police and forest officials suspect it to be a case of poisoning.

A red-coloured fruit found in wild bushes and wheat grains were found in their stomachs during the postmortem, but this could not shed light on the cause of the death.

Divisional forest officer (DFO) M. Semmaran said: "We have collected the samples and will send them to the IVRI laboratory for testing to find the exact cause of the bird's death. All the birds were found in the same field."

Apart from the peacocks, two doves were also found dead in the same field in Baruki village.

Sources said that the deaths could have been caused due to excessive chemical pesticides which farmers spray on their crops.

It may be recalled that in a similar incident last year, six peacocks were found dead in the Amroha district and the exact cause of their death could not be ascertained.