J&K mysterious deaths: All pesticide, insecticide shops sealed in Rajouri district

All pesticide and insecticide shops have been sealed by authorities in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Rajouri district as part of preventive measures taken after 17 ‘mysterious deaths’ took place in Budhal village, officials said on Thursday.

Officials said that as part of an ongoing investigation and preventive legal measures after 17 people died over the past nine weeks due to the 'mysterious illness' in Budhal village, the authorities conducted surprise inspections of all insecticide, pesticide, and fertiliser stores in the district and initiated their closure.

Officials said as many as 11 patients who were admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) after falling ill in Budhal village have fully recovered and were discharged on Tuesday.

In a major late evening action taken by authorities, surprise inspections of all insecticide, pesticide, and fertiliser stores were initiated followed by the closure of all the stores until further orders.

Joint teams from the department of agriculture, department of food and drugs control organisation, assisted by police and headed by an executive magistrate, conducted simultaneous surprise inspections at all these outlets located across the district.

The number of these outlets is believed to be around 250.

The action came after a team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, concluded a three-day visit to Rajouri.

They examined the patients from Badhal village and collected various samples as part of their investigation into the recent deaths in the area.

During their visit, the five-member team of experts from Delhi AIIMS, including specialists in toxicology, conducted interviews and recorded clinical histories from the 11 patients currently undergoing treatment.

Dr A.S. Bhatia, principal of GMCH, Rajouri told IANS that all patients, who had reported to the hospital with symptoms of the mysterious illness, were treated with atropine and all have survived.

Dr Bhatia said that atropine is an antidote for organophosphorus group of poisons and it is safe to believe that the 17 deaths had occurred due to organophosphorus poisoning.

Asked why the doctors in J&K missed detecting the killer poison, Dr Bhatia said that the typical symptom of organophosphorus poisoning is that the victims report with dilated eye pupils, but those admitted to hospital with high fever, vomiting, excessive sweating, and unconsciousness had constricted eye pupils.

“Why patients with organophosphorus poisoning exhibited constricted eye pupils in these cases is being investigated”, Dr Bhatia said.

“The good news is that all 11 patients who reported to the hospital with symptoms of the mysterious diseases are now being given atropine and none of them have died and they have been released after recovering,” he concluded.