While the number deaths in the Budhal village of Rajouri on Sunday increased to 17 with the death of another minor girl, the cause of the deaths remained a mystery.

Yasmeen, 15, who was brought here on 12 January for treatment and was put on ventilator later, died at 6.10 pm, said doctors. Her body will be handed over to the parents after her postmortem.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday ordered the constitution of an Inter-ministerial team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs to visit the affected village to ascertain the causes of deaths in three incidents in the past six weeks in Jammu’s Rajouri district.

The team will comprise experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It will also be assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs.

Seventeen of the 38 affected persons, including 13 children, have died since 7 December. The victims belonged to three families.

The police have secured the village to prevent any foul play. The Union Territory government has constituted an SIT to investigate the deaths.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, on Saturday, visited the village and met the bereaved families and assured them of unwavering support from the district administration during this difficult time. Pertinently, Cabinet Ministers, Sakeena Itoo and Javed Rana, had already visited the village immediately after the first two incidents to provide solace and ensure timely action.

Meanwhile, the district administration is providing essential supplies, including ration and water, to the affected families and the community.

The deputy CM said adequate medical teams are on ground and working tirelessly to address any immediate concerns.

The chief minister is personally monitoring the situation and all efforts are being made to ascertain whether these deaths were due to natural causes or any other reason, the deputy CM said.

Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Abhishek Sharma, MLA Budhal, Javed Iqbal Choudhary, ADDC Rajouri, Dr. Raj Kumar Thapa and all district officers accompanied the Deputy CM during his visit to the village.