Jammu: Rajouri village deaths not due to any communicable disease, says govt
Analysis by CSIR-IITR detects toxins in multiple biological specimens; Rajouri police form special investigation team for a detailed investigation into the deaths in Badhaal village of Rajouri district
The government of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said it has been closely monitoring the situation in Badhaal village of Rajouri district where an unexplained illness has claimed 14 lives since December 7 last year. One child admitted in Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh Hospital in Jammu is critical.

“Investigations and samples empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. Pertinently, all samples have tested negative for any viral or bacteriological etiology. The tests were conducted on different samples in some of the most reputed labs of the country. These include National Institute of Virology Pune, National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, National Institute of Toxicology and Research, Lucknow, Defence Research Development Establishment, Gwalior, the Microbiology Department of PGIMER in Chandigarh besides the ICMR-Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory and GMC Jammu,” said an official statement issued here.
The incident came into notice on December 7, 2024, when a family of seven got ill after a community meal, resulting in five fatalities. On December 12, a family of nine got affected, claiming three lives. The third incident occurred on January 12 involving a family of 10, who fell ill after consuming another community meal with six children requiring hospitalisation.
Out of six children, five have died and the sixth is critical. “Responding promptly, the government took a number of steps to find root cause of the unusual illness,” read the statement.
Minister for health and medical education Sakina Itoo visited the spot along with other cabinet colleagues, besides chairing several meetings with the health and medical education department, district administration and other related departments to find the cause of the illness and provide necessary healthcare facilities to the affected.
Chief secretary Atal Dulloo also chaired a series of meetings with health authorities, administration, technical experts from across the country and police to ensure thorough fact-finding and provide the best healthcare facilities to the affected.
Experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causative factors of the deaths. Dr Rajeev Bahl, secretary to the department of health research in the ministry of health and family welfare and director general of the ICMR, held a video-conference to discuss strategies and steps to rule out any epidemic.
The government took several steps immediately after the first incident on December 7, including deputing a medical team along with the food safety department to collect food and water samples, organising medical camps, establishing mobile medical units, door-to-door screening and deploying rapid action teams.
“The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens,” read the official statement.
Meanwhile, the Rajouri police have formed an SIT for investigating the deaths.
