Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jan 21 : As the inter-ministerial team continued investigations into the mysterious deaths of 17 persons at Budhal village in Rajouri District, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah arrived in the hamlet on Tuesday and reiterated the government’s commitment to uncover the truth behind the tragedy.
An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the inter ministerial team, constituted by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, led by a director-level officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs on the second consecutive day spent hours collecting samples and interacting with villagers and surviving family members.
Initial investigations, according to the officials, ruled out a communicable bacterial or viral disease, focusing instead on neurotoxins found in the samples of victims.
Authorities also sealed a local spring after discovering traces of pesticides or insecticides in its water.
*CM OMAR VISITS BUDHAL*
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited Budhal village and met the members of three affected families that witnessed 17 deaths, including 13 children, between December 7, 2024 and January 19, 2025. The victims belonged to three related families.
Accompanied by Minister Javed Ahmad Rana, Omar expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and assured residents of a transparent investigation. He pledged the government’s commitment to uncover the truth.
Talking to reporters after meeting the families of the victims the Chief Minister said that till now investigators have not been able to establish the reason behind mysterious deaths in the hamlet but efforts are on to ascertain the cause of deaths. “The government’s priority is to stop this cycle of deaths and that it should not go beyond 17,” he said, adding, “Since the day we have got the information, officials of Health and other departments have been working to understand the cause behind these deaths.”
“Tests were done, and we reached the conclusion that there was no bacteria or virus that caused these deaths,” he said, adding, “All these deaths have taken place in three families. “But, we are yet to find the reason behind these deaths. Since it’s not a disease, Police are also involved in it and they have formed a team to investigate the matter.
The Central Government team is also there, and together we will look into the reason behind these deaths,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that the government is fully committed to uncovering the cause of the tragic deaths, with multiple agencies actively involved in the investigation.
Asked about opposition criticism of his government over the handling of the situation, Omar said he would not like to play politics on such a happening.
“…Had we worked in haste and taken any wrong step, then you would have blamed us (for the deaths). The administration responded to the situation in a right way and the local MLA (Javaid Iqbal Choudhary) was there on the ground, taking the people into confidence and keeping them informed.
“We took time because we failed to establish the reason for the deaths. But we will expose the truth though it will take two or three more days and we have no issues with it,” he said, adding “we will come out with the answers to all the questions”—(KNO)
