Jammu, Jan 16 || The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday confirmed that the deaths in the Rajouri district during the last month have been caused by toxins and not by any communicable diseases. Following this, the police formed an SIT to probe the criminal angle.
Over a dozen people, including seven children, have died in Badhaal village of Kotranka sub-division of Rajouri district since December 7, 2024, due to an unidentified disease.
The union territory government said that toxins have been identified in the samples analysed by the Council For Scientific And Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Toxicological Research (CSIR-IITR). The CSIR-IITR findings confirmed that no virus or bacteria was found in the samples analysed by the institute.
After these findings were sent to the J&K government, police in Rajouri district constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the criminal aspect of the deaths.
The first death in this series of 14 deaths happened on December 7, 2024, in which five members of a family of seven died.
On December 12 last year, three members of a family of nine died in the same village.
A child admitted to Jammu’s SMGS hospital on January 12 is still said to be in critical condition.