GUNTUR: A 11-year-old boy died of suspected food poisoning and four other children were hospitalised after reportedly having breakfast served at a madrasa in Palnadu district on Saturday. Police said as many as 18 boys were studying at the Islamia Nurul Huda madrasa in Gurazala.
Gurazala Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jayaram said preliminary investigation revealed that the boys had consumed food that was brought to the madrasa by a local resident, Hafeez, who had held a house-warming ceremony on Friday night. “The five boys ate the leftover food on Saturday morning and took ill after a couple of hours. Initially, we suspected that the roselle used in the food was not properly cleaned, and had pesticide residue,’’ he said. Hafeez is a pesticide dealer.
One of the five students who fell ill, Yamagiri Syed Munna of Gundlapalli village in Nekarikallu mandal, died while undergoing treatment. Soon after the students took ill, the madrasa management shifted them to a multi-specialty hospital in Piduguralla, and from there to the Government General Hospital at Guntur.
Doctors at the GGH termed the health condition of the four children stable. The parents of the deceased filed a complaint with Gurazala police. The body of the deceased was sent to hospital for post-mortem, police said, adding the cause of the death could be ascertained after getting the autopsy report.