Rajgangpur: More than 200 people of this town in Sundargarh district, who had consumed ‘prasad’ served at Lipoloi Jagannath Temple during Debasnana Utsav Thursday, were Saturday admitted to various government and private hospitals after suffering from loose motion, vomiting and fever.
Meanwhile, the administration has sent a medical team and a temporary camp has been set up near the temple to administer treatment to the sufferers.
The temple management committee, on the other hand, lodged a complaint with police alleging somebody has intentionally mixed something in the ‘prasad’ which made such a large number of devotees suffer from illness.
It claimed that such incident didn’t occur in the past even as several rituals are observed in the temple and hundreds of villagers regularly take part in the festivals. Thursday, the day of Debasnana Utsav was no different with many people turning up for the occasion, said the committee members.
The temple committee arranged cooked food and sprouts while some devotees brought dried stuff to be distributed among visitors. The devotees consumed all kinds of ‘prasad’ served to them Thursday and returned home.
However, many of them started suffering from fever and dysentery Friday. The condition of the villagers deteriorated Saturday and more than 200 people complained of fever, vomiting and loose motion. They were admitted to the nearby hospitals.
A worried temple management committee lodged a complaint with the police. “We suspect that some miscreants have mixed toxic material to the eatables,” said Padma Mohapatra of the committee.
The administration promptly swung into action and sent some patients to the hospital in an ambulance while others were administered treatment at the medical camp set up near the temple.
On the other hand, the family of the victims demanded a probe into the incident.
People admitted to the government hospital said there was no improvement in their conditions despite taking medicines.
PNN
