It took nearly 24 hours for health officials to collect samples from the shop that had supplied “gajrela” for distribution as “prasad” at Gurdwara Thada Sahib in Ayali Khurd village, leaving around 60 devotees sick on Wednesday. Authorities inspected the sweet shop in Barewal on Thursday to collect samples, while villagers claimed the delay would have given the shopkeeper enough time to dispose of the remains of the “affected batch”.
Villagers also said that samples from the gurdwara should have been collected immediately after devotees complained of vomiting and loose movements on the occasion of Maghi. The health department did not collect samples from the gurdwara immediately. District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Sandeep Singh said they were initially under the impression that the sweet dish had been prepared at the gurdwara, but later found that it had been brought from a nearby sweet shop.
Asked if the delay would have given the shopkeeper time to dispose of the batch that had caused the problem, DHO Singh said, “We had asked the gurdwara management to keep aside the remaining ‘gajrela’. We have taken a sample of that too.”
According to Dr Davinder Kumar, senior medical officer (SMO) of Sudhar, a total of 60 people fell ill after eating the sweet dish. While 34 of them were admitted to various hospitals, information about the rest was found during a door-to-door drive on Thursday.
Nine people remain hospitalized and others have been discharged. The other people, Dr. Davinder, said they had symptoms but took nearby medications and were getting better.
