Over dozen deaths in Rajouri not caused by any mysterious disease: Health Minister Sakeena Itoo

JAMMU: 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 the Union Territory have returned negative results, Health Minister Sakeena Masood said here on Wednesday.

However, she said the deaths in the 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.

“Thirteen people, including 11 children, have died in the 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.

“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,” the minister told reporters.

On Tuesday evening, officials had put the overall death toll in the village at 14.

After more than 40 days, Masood said the 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.

Meanwhile, she said all the test reports conducted within and outside Jammu and Kashmir, including at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 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 results, 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 infection that caused the deaths,” the minister, who visited the village last month to take stock of the situation, said.

She said the real cause of the deaths is a matter of investigation.

“The police department 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,” Masood said, expressing her sympathies for the bereaved families.

Asked about health experts revealing that certain neurotoxins have been found in the samples of some of the deceased, the minister 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 senior superintendent of police. There should be a prompt investigation to unveil the truth,” she said.

Masood said they were 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. (PTI)