AIIMS Director leads team to Rajouri, records clinical history; visits Badhaal

SIT working hard to make headway: Admn

JAMMU, Feb 3: A six-member team of experts from AIIMS New Delhi, led by its Director- Prof (Dr) M Srinivas and including specialists in Toxicology, today visited Badhaal village of district Rajouri, where 17 persons have died due to ‘mysterious disease’ and collected samples of water from the Bowli and other food items at the houses of these 3-4 affected families.

Official sources told the Excelsior that the team visited Badhaal village on Sunday where three families suffered casualties due to ‘mysterious illness’, and collected food samples from their sealed homes and water bodies surrounding that area.

“The samples would be tested to know the cause of deaths. The experts also interacted with the other villagers and tried to learn the history behind these ugly events,” sources said.

The AIIMS team headed by its director Dr M Srinivas comprised Dr A Shariff, Professor in Clinical Toxicology, Dr Shailendra Kumar, Additional Professor, Anesthesia and Critical Care; Dr Nayer Jamshed, Additional Professor,E emergency Medicine; Dr Jagdish Prasad Meena, Additional Professor, Pediatrics, and Dr Javed Qadri, Assistant Professor, Clinical Toxicology, AIIMS, Delhi.

The team arrived Rajouri on Friday night, interacted with the patients and their relatives at the Government Medical College (GMC) there, and made several queries about the entire episode.

They also examined some of the patients who are under observation. The doctors at GMC Rajouri are treating the 11 patients using Atropine, an anti-poison drug, the sources added.

The team spoke to these patients who are undergoing treatment for a mysterious illness that claimed 17 lives and recorded their clinical history.

Besides the AIIMS Delhi team, a team of experts from PGI Chandigarh is also investigating the cause of toxicity.
Meanwhile, no new case has been reported in the past nine days from Badhaal village, which was shaken by the unexplained deaths of 17 people belonging to three families between December 7 and January 19, the officials at Rajouri claimed.

In order to mitigate the situation and prevent further casualties, 87 families comprising over 360 individuals were shifted from the village to three isolated centres in Rajouri — Government Nursing College, Government Boys Higher Secondary School, and in a building at Government Medical College, Rajouri where they are under observation.

To ensure the safety of the remaining 808 households, comprising 3,700 individuals, at Badhaal, the village has been divided into 14 zones monitored by multi-department teams of 182 officials, the sources added.

All the shops and establishments in the village have been sealed, and ration is being provided under strict supervision of the teams of Government officials, the sources said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Badhaal village has been declared as containment zone and prohibitory orders have been imposed on all public and private gatherings.

Meanwhile, on the directions of Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri Abhishek Sharma and under the close supervision of Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Dr Raj Kumar Thapa, a team led by District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Sukhdev Raj along with PEM, Adris Ahmed Wani visited the centres established at Nursing College Rajouri and Boys Higher Secondary School Rajouri to interact with the families shifted from Badhaal village.
During the visit, carrom boards, volleyballs, cricket kits and other sports equipment were distributed among the children to engage them in recreational activities and boost their morale.

The initiative aims to provide a sense of normalcy and psychological relief to the displaced families, especially children, during their temporary stay at these centres, an official said.

Officials assured the families that the administration is committed to ensuring their well-being and providing all necessary facilities. Further support measures will continue under the guidance of district authorities, the official added.

A senior official in the District Administration claimed that SIT constituted by J&K Police was working hard to crack the case and get some clues. He, however, informed that the team could not make any headway in the case till today. He said the local villagers were fully cooperating with the police team.