Imphal, Aug. 23: Manipur police and officials of the state veterinary department today seized 208 newly hatched chicks and a large quantity of chicken feed from a shop located at Nagamapal market here.

A senior official of the state veterinary department said the seized chickens were culled while one truckload of chicken feed was destroyed at a safe place later in the afternoon.

The police sealed the shop and took into custody Yumnam Umabati Devi, the wife of the shop owner Y. Pradip, who is a resident of Ningthoukhong now living in Imphal West.

Umabati Devi told the police and veterinary officials that the chickens and the feed arrived from Guwahati only yesterday.

The veterinary officials collected a few chickens and portions of the feed to test for bird flu.

The police and veterinary officials also raided Nagamapal and neighbouring marketplaces to check if any other shops are selling chicken or chicken feed, which are banned within a 10-km radius of a farm affected by bird flu in Chingmeirong of Imphal East district.

However, no further arrests or seizures have been reported.

The officials said a ban on sale of live poultry, eggs or chicken feed was enforced in the vicinity of the affected poultry farm even after culling and cleaning-up operations were completed.

The veterinary department, however, said the sale of dressed chicken or ducks was allowed.

“The dressed chicken should be brought in from outside the 10-km radius. No live poultry is allowed within this zone,” the official said.

Culling of poultry began on July 26, a day after the outbreak of H5N1 strain of avian influenza was confirmed at the Chingmeirong farm.

The culling operations concluded on August 2, killing nearly 3.5 lakh poultry within a five-km radius of the affected farm.

Rapid response teams are continuing post-culling surveillance activities within the 10-km radius to allay fear of villagers.