“It was around 8 am that I spotted the dead birds during my visit to the market. I saw crows falling from the trees, shivering and then dying. I spotted at least six of them. Later, some of them were taken away by sweepers. We were shocked to see them die. None of us touched it,” said Muhammed Samsuddin, a resident of Chawlpatti market in Karaya.

“There are rumours that it is bird flu. But how do we know? No KMC official visited us here,” he added.

Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the state animal resources development department rushed in vets to these areas to collect samples.

The sample have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostics Laboratory in Belgachia for preliminary tests.

“I have heard about the unusual death of crows. We have sent the samples to Belgachia. If there is cause for concern we will send them to Bhopal. But as of now, there is no confirmation that they had bird flu, and there is absolutely no need to panic. Other factors may have been responsible for their death,” said state ARD minister Anisur Rahaman.

The city’s civic department said they were not taking any chance and are waiting for the final results from the Belgachia laboratory.