Malkangiri: Three persons including a minor girl were taken ill after drinking water at a water kiosk at MPV 49 village under Similibanchha gram panchayat in Malkangiri district.
The water in a pot at the kiosk was allegedly laced with pesticide. The incident came to light after three persons fell ill after drinking the water. They were admitted to Kalimela Community Health Centre (CHC).
The victims have been identified as Bishaka Goldar (13), Debabrata Koel (24) of MV 49, and Tushar Mandal (22) of MV 116. Symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness, and trembling were noticed in them.
Reportedly, on the initiative of the villagers, the water kiosk had been set up on the main chowk of MPV 49 village a week back. The villagers had employed a woman Sandhya Rani Mandal of the village to maintain the water kiosk and fill it with water every day.
On the day of the incident, Sandhya had kept water in the clay pot at the kiosk and had gone to her home at around 3 pm for some work. At this time, some people arrived and drank water from the kiosk.
As they became ill one by one shortly after drinking the water, the villagers inspected the water and found that it had been poisoned. It has been reported that some pesticide was mixed in the water.
The villagers are clueless about who would have committed the crime.
