CM Abdullah visits Badhaal as Central team continues probe

Badhaal (J&K): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday visited the Badhaal village in Rajouri district to express solidarity with the bereaved families whose 17 members, including 13 children, died under mysterious circumstances in the past one-and-a-half month.

Accompanied by Minister for Jal Shakti, Forest and Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana and National Conference MLA Javaid Iqbal Choudhary, Abdullah assured all possible help to the victim families and said “we stand with you in this difficult phase”.

Soon after reaching the mountainous village, about 55 km from Rajouri district headquarters, Abdullah visited the graveyards and offered ‘Fateh’ (special prayers) to the deceased. The Chief Minister expressed sympathies with the bereaved families including Mohd Aslam who lost his six children and his maternal uncle and aunt, who were issueless and had adopted him, in the past week.

Aslam and his wife are the only survivors in his family.

CM Abdullah also met Mohd Rafeeq, whose wife and three children died on December 12 besides the parents of Fazal Hussain who along with his four children were the first to perish in the unresolved mystery on December 7.

Asserting that a probe is underway to unravel the mystery behind the deaths, Abdullah assured people that all questions will be answered soon.

Among the 17 dead, 13 were children in the age group of three to 15 years.

The visit of the Chief Minister comes on a day when a high-level inter-ministerial team is visiting the village as part of its probe to ascertain the cause of the deaths.

“There will be no shortcoming and whatever steps are needed will be taken. We stand with you in this difficult period of grief,” he said while interacting with the surviving members of the three families.

Meanwhile, the Central team headed by a director-rank officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs continued its probe for the second day on Tuesday.