GUWAHATI: The bodies of three persons, including a woman, were recovered from the under-construction Institute of Science and Bio Resource at Umsawli in Meghalaya on Sunday evening.
The police suspected that the deceased, which included a woman, died due to mushroom poisoning. The bodies were recovered from two rooms.
Two of the diseased persons were working as cleaners while another was a chowkidar (watchman). They were residents of Mawlai Phudmuri.
The contractor of the project had alerted the police stating that a foul smell was emanating from the locked rooms on the first floor of the building. The police broke open the doors in the presence of the local headman and eyewitnesses and recovered the bodies.
The police learnt that two of the deceased had gone to collect mushrooms from an adjoining forest on Thursday. A pot, which contained cooked mushrooms, was recovered from one of the rooms.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem. The police registered a case of unnatural death.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Sylvester Nongtnger told this newspaper that it would take a few days for the police to get the report of the post-mortem.