Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Sunday that the reason behind the mysterious deaths reported in Rajouri’s district will be ascertained very soon.
“J&K health department and other departments probed the deaths but the exact cause has not be found yet. The Home Minister has constituted a team of inter-ministerial experts and they have reached here,” Lt Governor Manoj Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
He said police have set up a special investigation team to probe the events from other angles. “We will brief you once the reality comes to the fore,” Sinha said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial team led by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to investigate the causes of unexplained deaths in three incidents reported over the past six weeks.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has also taken steps to address the situation, with Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary visiting the affected area and announcing ex-gratia compensation for the victims’ families. The police are investigating the cause of the deaths.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “This is very unfortunate, not just for Budhal but for the entire J-K and country, youths and young children have died…CM himself was monitoring this incident…govt has given ex-gratia (to the victims’ families)…the administration is inspecting the ration that is being given to them. Police are investigating to find out how these deaths happened..”
The health department teams have conducted door-to-door surveys of over 3,000 residents in the affected area and collected and tested samples of water, food, and other materials.
“All test results, including those for influenza and possible contaminants, have come back negative,” an official said.
He further stated that even advanced testing conducted by leading national institutes,such as ICMR, the National Institute of Virology, the National Centre for Disease Control, CSIR, DRDO, and PGIMERChandigarh, was unable to identify a definitive cause of the deaths.
According to the police, the deaths were confined to three families living within 1.5 km distance from each other. Further probe is underway to establish any links or causes behind the deaths.
The health department has been active in the area for over 40 days since the first death occurred, and provided ambulances and essential services to manage emergencies, the officials said.
Jatti Begum, 60, died of unknown causes on Friday is the latest casualty in the series of deaths.
Another girl is still battling for her life, they added.
The victims are from Badhaal village in the Kotranka sub-division of Rajouri district, where 16 members of three families have died since December last year, including seven fatalities since Sunday.
Authorities have sealed three houses belonging to the affected families and relocated 21 close relatives to government accommodations, where they will be kept under strict observation.
However, the autopsy reports of the deceased people by CSIR-IITR revealed the presence of neurotoxins.
‘Exact cause’ will be brought to fore: LG
