Jammu, Jan 15 (IANS): J&K health and medical education minister, Sakina Itoo said on Wednesday that no viral or bacterial infection has caused 13 deaths in the Rajouri district during the last over one month, but added that the real cause of these deaths is a matter of police investigation.
In a surprising development, J&K health and medical education minister, Sakina Itoo told reporters that detailed testing at various premier laboratories and hospitals of the country has revealed that no viral or bacterial infection was behind 13 deaths caused in Badhaal village of Kotranka sub-division of Rajouri district.
“More than a dozen deaths in three families in a remote village in the border district of Rajouri were not caused by any mysterious disease as tests conducted both within and outside J&K have shown negative results. The deaths in three families that are related to each other in Badhaal village of Kotranka sub-division since December 7 last year are of great concern and police and the district administration will undertake a speedy probe to unveil the mystery,” the minister said on Wednesday.
Thirteen people, including 11 children, have died in the Badhaal village (eight in December and five this month).
The health department mobilised its entire machinery after getting information about the deaths of five people and screened 3,500 villagers door to door.
Sakina Itoo said, "It took samples and sent those for testing in various laboratories within and outside Jammu and Kashmir. Three more people died a few days later, prompting the department to seek the assistance of the country's premier health institutions. Their teams arrived here and carried out a detailed investigation.”
“After more than 40 days, deaths started occurring again and it is evident that if the fatalities were caused by any disease, it would have spread immediately and would not have been restricted to three families, which are living in close vicinity and are related to each other,” the minister said.
“All test reports conducted within and outside Jammu and Kashmir, including at the ICMR-NITVAR in Pune, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi, Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) in Gwalior and the microbiology department at the PGI Chandigarh have returned negative and so has been the case with the samples of water and other food items. The health department could not find any disease, virus or bacterial infection that caused the deaths,” she added.
“Real cause of the deaths is a matter of investigation. Police and the district administration will investigate the unfortunate deaths of the 13 people, who were normal and were not suffering from any illness or infection,” the minister said.
Asked about health experts revealing that certain neurotoxins have been found in the samples of some of the deceased, Sakina Itoo said they will arrive at a conclusion only after an inquiry is completed. “I am in touch with the district development commissioner and have also spoken to the SSP. There should be a prompt investigation to unveil the truth. We are waiting for some test reports, including the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) report, which took time, but it is clear that the deaths were not caused by any disease or virus,” she asserted.
Panic and fear have gripped Badhaal village and neighbouring areas for over the last one month after deaths started occurring in the village. Victims were admitted to hospitals at various places reporting high fever, excessive sweating, episodes of unconsciousness and death. This became the reason for these deaths being called ‘mysterious deaths’ as attending doctors remained clueless about the pathogen causing these deaths. The victims were treated symptomatically till they passed away.