Chhattisgarh: 26 ITBP jawans fall ill after consuming food at camp

In a suspected case of food poisoning, 26 personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) fell ill with after consuming meal at their camp in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, officials said on Friday.

While 21 of them were admitted to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Khairagarh town of the district on Thursday evening, five others were hospitalised this morning, and the condition of all of them is said to be out of danger, a police official said.

All of them belong to the ITBP's 40th battalion and were stationed in Malaida camp of the security forces located in a Naxal-hit area along the Chhattisgarh-Madhya Pradesh border, around 150 kms away from capital Raipur, he said.

"On Wednesday night, the ITBP jawans had dinner in the mess of the camp and consumed meat and paneer. Next day, some of them complained of diarrhoea and vomiting following which, 21 personnel were rushed to CHC Khairagarh, while five more personnel were admitted there this morning," he said.

The condition of all of them was reported to be out of danger, he added.

"Prima facie, it seems that they fell sick due to food poisoning. However, the condition of all of them is stable and they were kept under observation," Dr Vivek Bisen of the CHC Khairagarh told PTI.

A medical team has been sent to the camp to ensure that if more jawans fall ill, they are provided immediate treatment, he said.

Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has directed Rajanandagon Collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) to provide better medical treatment to the ill jawans, an official statement said.