As the inter-ministerial expert team constituted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached the Badhaal village on Monday where 17 people, including 12 children, have mysteriously died.
The authorities have banned community feasting and sealed a natural water spring in the panic stricken village of the in the Rajouri district near the Line of Control (LOC).
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The 11-member inter-ministerial team has been assigned with the task of probing the “mystery” deaths.
The team members, who were briefed by the district administration of Rajouri on Sunday, visited the affected village this morning and collected samples. They also spoke to the family members of the
victims. Of the 38 people affected by the mysterious illness, 17 belonging to three families have died since 7 December when the affected people started losing their lives. All six children of Mohammad Aslam were among the dead.
Experts from reputed institutions of the country have not yet been able to identify the cause of the deaths. The Central team headed by a director-rank officer, consists of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It is also assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs.
An official said that the team is accompanied by experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country.
Meanwhile, J&K’s Health Minister Sakina Itoo ruled out any viral infection or communicable disease. She said the test reports so far have ruled out viral, bacterial or microbiological infections. However, experts said that “certain neurotoxins” have been found in the samples of those who have died so far.
A Health Department team has conducted a door-to-door survey of over 3,000 residents in the affected area, collecting and testing samples of water, food, and other materials. All test results, including those for influenza and other possible contaminants, came back negative, officials said.
The district administration also conducted an aggressive contact tracing, health interventions and took 272 samples.
Experts from PGIMER Chandigarh, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), National Institute of Virology (NIV), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Defence Research and Development (DRDO) and other organisations were so far unable to detect the cause of these deaths.
Reports said the water samples from the sealed spring have tested positive for pesticides and insecticides after which three policemen have been deployed there to prevent anyone collecting water from there.
