Poisonous ‘prasada’ in temple: Ingredients were expired; 2 women held

Bengaluru, Jan 28: The police probe into the case of ‘poisonous prasada’ distributed at a temple in Chintamani town in Chickballapur district, in which two women died, have revealed that “stale and expired ingredients” were used to make the ‘prasada’.

As many as 16 people were hospitalised after they consumed ‘kesari bath’ distributed as ‘prasada’ at the Ganga Bhavani temple on Friday. Two of them died on Saturday. The police are now waiting for the FSL, post-mortem and culture reports to ascertain the exact reason for the deaths.

This is the second such incident after the Chamarajanagar episode where consumption of temple offerings led to 17 deaths in December last year.

The police, who have taken up a case of death due to negligence against Lakshmi and her associate Amarvathy, who had prepared and distributed the ‘kesari bath’ at the temple, continued to question them on Sunday. The police said that are investigating further to rule out any foul play in the incident.

Victims recovering

Meanwhile, all the victims are responding well to treatment, said Chickballapur District Health Officer (DHO) Ravishankar.

The five victims, including 30-year-old Raju, his two children Charini (5) and Ganavi (7) and a woman named Radha (28), continue to be in the Intensive Care Unit at R.L. Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre in Kolar. “However, their condition is stable,” said the DHO said.

The other victims are undergoing treatment in private hospitals. “No new cases have been reported since yesterday,” he added.

“All the victims were admitted under the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka scheme and bills are being borne under it. The district Health Department is also extending financial support for the treatment,” the DHO added.

A Health Department release on Sunday said 16 among the 30 to 40 people who had consumed the prasada had taken ill and had been admitted to six hospitals in Kolar, Chintamani, and Hoskote. Among the patients, five were children. “Two have succumbed, one person is critical and three are in ICU. No fresh case was reported on Sunday,” the release said. Four doctors have been deputed at Chintamani government hospital. Post-mortem of the deceased has been conducted and the bodies have been handed over to the families, the release added.

 Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy visited the victims in the hospitals on Sunday. He was appraised about the incident and the investigations by Deputy Commissioner of Chickballapur Anirudh Sravan P. He also instructed Mr. Sravan to ensure the necessary treatment was given to the victims and the needs of the family of the deceased were met.