Title - MP, 6 others taken ill after Rajdhani dinner

RANCHI: Palamu MP Kameshwar Baitha along with six passengers travelling on New Delhi -Ranchi Rajdhani Express complained of uneasiness and stomach pain and started vomiting after they had dinner on the train on Saturday.

"I started vomiting and felt as if my limbs were not working," said the MP, who was travelling on AC first class coach.

The dinner comprising chicken, rice, bread, mixed vegetable and paneer, soup and ice cream for vegetarian and non-vegetarian passengers was served near Kanpur Central at 9pm on Friday, Ranchi divisional railway manager G Malaya said.

Two cases of critical infection were reported each from Coach No A1 and B7, both AC first class coaches. All the affected passengers were administered medical treatment when the train halted at Mughalsarai station around 1.40am after train superintendent R S Meena raised an alert.

"I was administered at least eight bottles of saline on the train and also at home. I'm much better now," said the Palamu MP. "I saw many others, including some children, suffer the same condition," Baitha said who had taken vegetarian meal and suspected the 'paneer' to be adulterated.

A medical team has been put on alert at the station and saline and medicine was administered to the passengers on the train.

S Dayal, a railway doctor travelling on the same train, administered medicines to the victims.

Distribution of any more food was stopped after the incident. Authorities collected food samples at Mughalsarai and were sent to the labs of the governement's department of food and adulteration.

The Ranchi DRM, however, claimed that most of the passengers recovered after being administered medicines. "There was an immediate effect of the medical treatment and things normalized soon. All the 650 passengers had dinner," Mallya said.

On Saturday morning, the DRM and other railway officials along with doctors attended the train when it reached Ranchi. "I had taken the medical team and an ambulance to ensure that the affected passengers are given all medical treatment. All the passengers, however, are fine."

The food to the passengers was supplied by a private player hired by the railways on contract.

Ranchi division officials also collected samples of the food and sent it for verification." We could only find coriander powder in the pantry samples which have been sent for test. Though passengers suspected that the paneer or ice cream was contaminated, we could not find any sample on the train," said a railway official.

Dhanbad DRM Sudhir Kumar visited Baitha and assured him of action against those responsible by Monday.