Rajouri, Jan 19: A high-level inter-ministerial team headed by a Director rank officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), deputed by Home Minister Amit Shah, Sunday reached Rajouri to investigate the mysterious deaths in Badhaal village.
This 16-member team, comprising members from various ministries and experts, proceeded to Rajouri after landing at Jammu on Sunday afternoon.
After arriving in Rajouri, officials said, the inter-ministerial team, headed by a Director ranked officer G K Garg, convened a high-level meeting with local administration officials, health experts, and a team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which has already been camping in the border district for the last few days.
The team’s visit comes amid growing concerns over the mysterious deaths, which have sparked panic in the region.
Constitution of this inter-ministerial team and deputing it to this border district of Jammu and Kashmir was ordered by Home Minister Amit Shah to join in the ongoing investigation into mysterious deaths in Badhaal village of Rajouri, where 17 people have already lost their lives since December 7.
The team is also scheduled to visit the affected village of Badhaal on Monday to conduct a field examination and an on-spot situation review.
The investigation aims to determine the cause of the deaths and provide relief to the affected families.
“The team’s findings will be crucial in unravelling the mystery behind the deaths and preventing further tragedies,” MLA Budhal Javed Iqbal Choudhary said, adding that investigation was already going on and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was himself taking day to day review of progress in investigation.
Experts from some of the most reputable institutions in the country have been roped in to understand the causes of the deaths.
The patients complained of fever, pain, nausea and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their admission to hospitals.
Earlier, a Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson said investigations and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there was no public health angle.
