Kamal Ghorui
AHMEDABAD: Police probing the deaths of two children of a Chandkheda family – threemonth-old Raha Prajapati and four-year-old Mishri – have effectively ruled out contamination in the batch of dosa batter sold by the dairy as the cause of the deaths, after finding that about 200 people who consumed batter from the same batch reported no illness.They have, however, not ruled out possible contamination afterwards or intentional poisoning.The investigation into the deaths intensified on Tuesday, with the city crime branch joining Chandkheda police.In another development, officers exhumed Raha’s body for a detailed forensic examination.The body has been sent to Civil Hospital for a panel postmortem.“Prima facie, the dosa batter sold by the dairy is unlikely to be the cause of death since 200 people consumed the same batch without falling ill. We are probing all angles, including intentional poisoning and the possibility that the batter used by the family became contaminated later,” a senior crime branch official said.Vimal Prajapati, the victims’ father, had bought around 3kg of dosa batter from a dairy on IOC Road on the evening of April 1. The family ate dosas that night and reported vomiting and uneasiness the next morning.Raha and Mishri died on April 4 and 5, respectively. While Vimal and his wife, Bhavna, are undergoing treatment at KD Hospital and are currently stable, the death of the children sparked a police investigation.Investigators were particularly puzzled by the infant’s death since she was exclusively breastfed and could not have eaten solid food.The dairy owner earlier denied any lapse on his part, stating that the same batch of batter was sold to several customers and that he had not received any complaint. Meanwhile, forensic teams have collected samples from Prajapati’s house and the dairy.Police said viscera and forensic reports, which can conclusively establish the cause of death, are awaited.
