BK News Service

Rajouri, Feb 6: The villagers of Rajouri’s Badhal village, who have been housed in isolation facilities following death of 17 people due to mysterious illness in the village, on Thursday demanded that they be allowed to return to their hamlet.
The villagers housed in one of the isolation centres in Rajouri held a protest in the centre today.
They said while 17 people from their village have lost their lives, authorities are yet to determine the cause of these deaths.
“Instead, hundreds of villagers have been placed in isolation facilities. We have left behind our livestock and household. Our animals were on the verge of death due to a lack of care,” they said.
After the protest, senior officers reached the spot and assured the protestors that they would be let go to their village after it is found what caused the mysterious death.
The residents of Badhal village were moved to isolation facilities 12 days ago as a precautionary measure after the unexplained deaths.
Despite extensive investigations by police and medical experts, the cause of 17 deaths remains unknown.
With suspicions of a neurotoxin contaminating the local food chain, authorities decided to relocate affected families and their immediate contacts to quarantine facilities. Three such facilities have been set up at the district headquarters in Rajouri.
As part of a major late-night action in the border district, authorities launched surprise inspections of all insecticide, pesticide, and fertilizer stores, leading to the closure of all such establishments until further notice, officials said.
Eleven patients, who were admitted to the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital after falling ill due to the mysterious illness, have fully recovered and were discharged on Monday, officials said.
A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, concluded a three-day visit to Rajouri, where they examined patients from Badhal village and collected various samples as part of their investigation from Friday to Sunday.
During their visit, the five-member AIIMS team, including toxicology specialists, conducted interviews and recorded clinical histories of the 11 patients undergoing treatment for the mysterious illness.
Sources said doctors at GMC Rajouri administered atropine, an anti-poison drug, to the affected patients.
Badhal village remains under containment, with 79 families still in isolation as a precautionary measure.
To safeguard the remaining 808 households, comprising 3,700 individuals, the village has been divided into 14 clusters, each monitored by multi-departmental teams comprising 182 officials, officials said.