New Delhi: India’s premier health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has ruled out infectious agents as the cause behind the mysterious deaths in Rajouri’s Badhaal village, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, shifting the focus of the investigation to possible toxic substances.
According to a statement by Kashmir Media Service, ICMR confirmed that extensive tests for bacteria, viruses, and fungi found no evidence of a communicable disease behind the 17 deaths.
Experts now believe that a toxin—potentially from food, water, pesticides, heavy metals, or volatile substances—may be responsible. The investigation has been handed over to toxicology labs, including the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) in Lucknow and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in Gwalior.
However, concerns have been raised about the limited capacity as well as liberty of Indian labs to test for the full range of possible toxins, with officials hinting at the possibility of seeking international assistance if domestic efforts fail to identify the culprit.
It is noteworthy that local residents have already accused the Indian Army of deliberately contaminating the village’s water source.
The post Toxin Suspected in Rajouri Deaths as Infections Ruled Out appeared first on pakistannewsgazette.com.