Jammu: At least 350 members of 70 families, who were shifted to two separation facilities last month owing to mysterious deaths in their village, returned home in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. Seventeen members of three families, including 13 children, died under mysterious circumstances after falling sick in remote Badhaal village of Kotranka Sub-division between December 7 and January 19.
After spending 22 days in the separation centres – Government Nursing College Building in Rajouri and Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School Rajouri – all the 350 members of 70 families were sent back to their homes on Thursday, the officials said.
However, over 30 more persons belonging to victim families, who are under observation at Government Medical College hospital in Rajouri, are not moving out for the time being, the officials said.
Though the exact cause of the deaths in the village remained unclear so far despite authorities roping in experts from primer health institutions across the country, some neurotoxin in the food chain is suspected as the main cause for the mysterious disease.
While people were provided all kinds of facilities at the separation facilities, dedicated teams of officials were also stationed in the village to take care of livestock of the shifted families.
Rajouri Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Sharma personally saw the return of the villagers to their homes on the advise of the experts.
“Our task is not completed yet, we will continue our monitoring mechanism at the village till the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of police submits its report. Over 180 government officials are posted in the village, monitoring daily activities,” he said.
Sharma said over 700 other households in the village are under watch, while all the pesticide shops in the entire district were closed as a precautionary measure.
He said all the stock of grains and dry ration in the houses were replaced by the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department by fresh stocks.
