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Rajouri village deaths not due to communicable disease: Probe

Police investigate personal enmity, property dispute angles
Senior officials carry out an inspection at Badhaal village in Rajouri district. File
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As another minor girl succumbed on Wednesday evening at a Jammu hospital, taking the toll of the deceased due to the unexplained illness in Rajouri to 15, the police have started probing if there was any property dispute or personal enmity angle in the mysterious deaths.

Investigators are also trying to know what was served at the two community meals organised at Badhaal village before the members of the three families fell ill.

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The first community meal had taken place on December 2 when the daughter of the first victim — Fazal Hussain — got married. The second meal was held on January 9 that was organised at the house of Fazal in his mourning.

“The incident came into notice on December 7, 2024, when a family of seven got ill after a community meal, resulting in five fatalities. On December 12, 2024, a family of nine got affected, claiming three lives. The third incident occurred on January 12, 2025, involving a family of 10 who fell ill after consuming another community meal, with six children requiring hospitalisation,” a statement by J&K Government read.

However, many locals from the village had attended these meals but members of only three families were affected.

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The official statement stated that clinical reports, lab investigations and environmental samples indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease. “The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens,” the statement read.

As all the three families whose members died are related, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing all angles, including that of enmity and property dispute. However so far, no such angle has been established. Many locals from Badhaal were questioned by the police team on Thursday as well.

A villager who did not want to be named informed The Tribune that there was a sense of fear in the village and locals want police investigation to find out the facts behind the deaths. “Locals are living in fear because of multiple deaths within a short span. Locals are also concerned about the food they are consuming,” the villager informed. Shockingly, while five minor children of Mohammad Aslam have died at a SMGS hospital in Jammu till now, his last surviving daughter is also critical.

The statement by the government said “Investigations and samples empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. Pertinently, all samples have tested negative for any viral or bacteriological etiology. The tests were conducted on different samples in some of the most reputed labs of the country.”

It further read that a team of the state rapid response experts, including epidemiologists, microbiologists and others from GMC Jammu and Rajouri visited the area to conduct detailed screening and collect contact tracing samples. Experts from NCDC, NIV Pune, and PGI Chandigarh also visited the area to assist in containing the situation.

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