Contaminated prasadam: Most patients recover in Mandya

MANDYA: The situation in Lingapatna village, where more than 70 persons took ill due to suspicious contaminated prasadam at Sri Aramma temple on Wednesday, returned to normalcy on Thursday as most patients were declared out of danger.
According to officials, only seven patients whose health condition is still precarious due to old-age and co-morbidities are in hospital while the rest have recovered and sent back home.
A temporary medical camp is still active in the village to keep a watch on the health of villagers. The medical officers are awaiting the laboratory report of the prasadam and they could not ascertain the cause behind the illness of villagers without the report.
Meanwhile police enquired several persons including the priest to find if there was foul play. They also interrogated people who had prepared the prasadam and those distributed it.
“Apparently there seems to be no reason to suspect intentional distribution of poisonous prasadam. The prasadam could have been contaminated and it was distributed by temple priests without knowing its consequences. Also, we have already ascertained that there were absolutely no disputes regarding temple management,” said police.
Medical officers said they will continue their medical camp so long as every patient has recovered and the sense of fear goes away from the minds of villagers.