Union home minister Amit Shah has ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial team to probe the mysterious deaths of 16 people in Jammu’s Rajouri.
The killings have rattled the administration in the Union Territory and the investigations have so far remained inconclusive.
The government has ruled out the outbreak of a communicable disease but suggested neurotoxins could have caused the deaths.
The latest victims have been five children, aged between 6 and 14, of Budhal resident Mohammad Aslam. His sixth child, a girl, remains critical.
Police have formed a special investigation team to identify the cause behind the deaths.
An official statement said Shah on Saturday ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial team that would visit Budhal village to probe three deaths in the past six weeks.
“The team will be headed by a senior Union home ministry officer and comprise experts from the ministries of health and family welfare, agriculture, chemicals and fertilisers, and water resources,” the statement said.
It said the team would be assisted by experts from the animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs.
“The central team will proceed on Sunday and, in collaboration with the local administration, also work on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” it said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has already involved top institutions in the country to find out the reasons behind these deaths.
Deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary on Saturday visited the village to assure families that the government was duty-bound to go to the root of the problem.
“I told the families that if these were natural deaths, we can do nothing before the will of god. But if there is another reason (sabotage), they will not be forgiven,” Choudhary told reporters in Jammu.
The deputy chief minister said he also visited the hospital in Jammu where he was left heartbroken by the father’s plea to save his (sixth) child.
“These deaths have not only hurt the people but the entire administration is sad,” he said.
The victims had complained of fever, pain, nausea and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their admission to hospitals.