Bihar Special Armed Police (BSAP) trainees staged a protest on Monday after 265 of them fell ill because of suspected food poisoning at the training centre in Supaul.

Over 900 protesters sat on the training grounds under the scorching sun and refused to take food. They claimed that the pesticide aluminium phosphide, popularly known as sulphas (celphos), got into their food at the mess. Senior police officers had to rush to defuse the situation.

On Sunday, the trainees were given poori, jalebi and stewed kabuli chana for breakfast after which several complained of dizziness, stomach ache and nausea.

“Many among us started falling ill around noon. Many were vomiting profusely. Everybody panicked. We rushed them to Birpur subdivisional hospital where some were put on saline drip. They were finally discharged during the early hours of Monday,” a trainee constable told reporters.

The protest continued from 8am to 2pm and was called off after BSAP northern zone deputy inspector general (DIG) Shafiul Haque met the trainees and assured them of a probe and better facilities.

“It seems the pesticide, which is kept in food grains such as wheat and gram to keep them safe from insects, inadvertently got mixed and resulted in food poisoning. Some of the trainees started to vomit. Around six or seven of them were put on saline drip,” inspector-general (training) Rajesh Kumar told The Telegraph.

“The matter has been sorted out and the protest has been called off. The training has resumed. The mess at the training centre is run by the trainees themselves,” Rajesh added.