Rajouri deaths still a mystery, 60 families in quarantine sent home

After 22 days of quarantine by the district administration, the families from Badhaal village in Rajouri — where 17 deaths due to unexplained reasons were reported since December — were sent home.

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Nearly 60 families with 360 individuals were quarantined at a nursing college and government school at Rajouri after experts were not able to detect the reason behind the unexplained deaths and symptoms of an unexplained disease in many others.

The experts — after testing samples — have so far come to the conclusion that the deaths were likely due to neurotoxins present in the food chain.

The 17 deaths were reported only from three families of the village inhabited by the members of the Gujjar community.

To deal with the situation, the administration had put many individuals — who were in close contact with the members of the families who died mysteriously — in quarantine to keep a close eye on their food and water intake.

Ahead of the release of the families from quarantine on Thursday, the district administration organised an event in which the residents of Badhaal were instructed about dos and don’ts when they return to the village. The government will continue to provide ration to the families for some days after their return.

Deputy Commissioner of Rajouri Abhishek Sharma said that deaths were reported from the village but the cause of deaths is still not known. “After consensus of expert teams from national-level institutions, we had taken the decision that the families be kept in an isolated atmosphere so that their food and water can be monitored,” Sharma said.

The food that was provided to the families was sampled everyday by a team of doctors. The cattle of the quarantined locals were also taken care of by the Animal Husbandry Department.

“All the quarantined people urged us to send them home as they wanted to take care of the cattle. Experts from AIIMS Delhi guided us over the discharge. They informed us that the residents can be discharged after 21 days if there are no symptoms,” the DC said.

He said, “We are sending back the families but our task will not be complete till the Special Investigation Team formed in the case gives a proper report,” the DC said.

The district administration has also sealed all the shops of pesticides in the district to stop any further exposure of the residents. There are some close contacts of the deceased who are still in quarantine at Government Medical College, Rajouri. They will be discharged in the coming days.