SHILLONG, APR 7: The bodies of the fourteen labourers from Assam, who died after consuming a poisonous ‘wild fruit’, were on Tuesday handed over to their families even as police ruled out any ‘foul play’ behind the incident.
The unfortunate incident took place called Umphum, 15 kilometers away from Saipung Police Station under East Jaintia Hills District on Sunday last. “All bodies have been handed over to their respective relatives after postmortem examination was conducted,” a senior police official informed.
The post mortem to ascertain the actual cause of the death was conducted at Khliehriat CHC, police said.
The deceased hails from Dhubri district of Assam and have been identified as : Jahirul Haque (22), Md. Inamul Haque (29), Md. Mafigul Haque (21), Amal Mani Das (23), Md. Mansur Ali (36), Md. Karim Uddin Ahmed (18), Majimur Ali (18), Md. Sopikul Ali (19), Md. Hachan Ali (19), Md. Moni Hussain (44), Md. Mazid Ali (22), Md. Shohidur Hussain (21), Md. Jahirul Haque (23), and Md. Minal Haque (19).
According preliminary reports, the labourers had gone to the nearby jungle and collected poisonous wild fruit which is locally known as ‘Khuaitur’ on Sunday afternoon.
The labourers had plucked the wild fruit to make chutney for dinner. According to the police official, locals never eat the fruit as they said it is very poisonous.
The poisonous fruit was grounded and consumed at dinner before they all went to sleep. All the workers were found dead on Monday morning while sleeping and the suspicion was that they had consumed poisonous fruits, police said.
On contacting, East Jaintia hills SP MK Dkhar said, “At the moment we have not seen any foul play behind the incident.” He however said police will wait for the postmortem and FSL reports .
“Only if something is found in the report, police may go for further inquiry,” Dkhar said.- By Our Reporter
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