Jan 18: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial team to visit `crisis-hit’ Badhaal village in Rajouri district of Jammu region to ascertain the causes of deaths of 16 persons during past six weeks while Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by J&K Police has picked up several suspects for questioning in connection with these deaths.
Official sources said that the Central team will be headed by a senior Union Home Ministry officer and consist of experts from the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Agriculture, Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Water Resources. The team will also be assisted by experts from the Animal Husbandry, Food Safety and forensic science labs.
The Central team will proceed on Sunday and, in collaboration with the local administration, also work on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in the future, according to the statement.
Experts from some of the most reputable institutions in the country have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causes of the deaths.
Lt Governor of JKUT, Manoj Sinha extended gratitude to the Union Home Minister for constituting an inter-ministerial team to investigate the cause of 16 deaths in Rajouri village.
“Grateful to Home Minister Amit Shah for constituting an inter-ministerial team to ascertain causes of deaths in Rajouri district. Experts from well known institutions will thoroughly examine the causative factors and also suggest preventive measures,” Sinha tweeted.
At least 16 people have died of a `mysterious illness’ in the Budhal village of Rajouri district in the past 45 days.
People complained of fever, pain, nausea and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their admission to hospitals. An official said that investigations and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle.
While, the condition of Yasmeen Kouser (15), continues to remain critical in SMGS hospital Jammu, her mother, Sakina , wife of Mohd Aslam was shifted to GMC Rajouri from CHC Kandi with preliminary symptoms of the mysterious disease late this evening. A senior official said that Aslam’s wife has been shifted for CT scan to GMC Rajouri and if her condition deteriorated, she will be shifted to Jammu.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary, today visited Badhaal village to meet the bereaved families affected by the tragic deaths of 16 people from three families.
Expressing heartfelt condolences, he assured the families of unwavering support from the district administration during this difficult time. He said that adequate medical teams are on ground and working tirelessly to address any immediate concerns. Moreover, SIT constituted by the police is probing the cause behind these unfortunate deaths.
“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,” he said.
He reassured the public that there is no need to panic, highlighting the Government’s commitment towards welfare of every citizen. “We stand firm in ensuring the well-being of our people,” he added.
Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Abhishek Sharma, MLA Budhal, Javed Iqbal Choudhary, ADDC Rajouri, Dr Raj Kumar Thapa, CMO Rajouri Dr M L Rana and all district officers accompanied the Deputy CM during his visit to Badhaal village.
Director General of J&K Police, Nalin Prabhat also reached district Rajouri this afternoon and took review of the situation and progress achieved by SIT into the case. SSP Rajouri, Gaurav Sikarwar briefed the DGP on the developments and said that SIT was working on all angles to break this case.
The DGP also reviewed overall security situation in Poonch- Rajouri Range. He intended to visit Badhaal village but could not fly in the helicopter due to bad weather and took review at Sunderbani. DIG, Ponnch-Rajouri, Tejinder Singh, DIG CRPF Himanshu Kumar, SSP Poonch Shafqat Bhat and ASP Nowshera were also present during meeting.
Member of Parliament, Anantnag-Rajouri, Mian Altaf also visited Badhaal village in Rajouri district to personally express his condolences to a grieving family struck by tragedy.
Altaf was accompanied by MLA Budhal, during the visit. Together, they met the bereaved family, who have tragically lost their entire household to this series of unexplained deaths. He expressed his heartfelt condolences, offering prayers for the departed souls and strength to the surviving relatives.
Meanwhile, Principal GMC Rajouri, Dr A S Bhatia in order to allay the fear from the minds of local villagers, also visited village Badhaal along with his team today.
The team included Dr Suza Qadri, HoD Community Medicine, Dr Zaeim HoD. Chest Diseases, Dr Imran, Physician, Dr Meenakshi HoD Pathology, Dr Izna HoD Microbiology, and Dr Satbir Singh, HoD Forensic Medicines.
While speaking to the local people Dr Bhatia explained the whole incident to the people and told them not to get panic. He also advised them to take some precautions while cooking, eating and storage of food items.
The team also took samples and examined the members of the affected families. Dr Bhatia assured the people that Govt machinery is very active to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, a team led by CMO Rajouri, Dr M L Rana is already camping at the village since long and monitoring the health condition of the people and other members of these three affected families. The team of Food Safety department is also on the job at the crisis hit village.
Medical Superintendent of SMGS Hospital jammu , Dr Dara Singh said that condition of Yasmeen (15), daughter of Mohd Aslam from Badhaal village was still critical. He was on ventilator support system.
MLA Budhal, Javed Choudhary and a local social activist Farooq Inqlabi have demanded that Yasmeen Kouser be shifted to AIIMS Delhi from SMGS Hospital Jammu as her condition continued to be serious. All the efforts be utilized by the J&K Administration to save the only surviving child of Mohd Aslam, who has already lost his five children.
Official sources said that SIT has been screening the mobile phones of several suspects and also picked up some suspects for questioning. The locals of the area are fully cooperating with the team.
