Including the self-styled doctor who prepared the concoction.
Three villagers and a traditional medical practitioner died in a village in Tamil Nadu after drinking a poisonous herbal medicine. The self-styled doctor identified as Muthupandi had claimed that the medicine had the ability to cure diabetes and hypertension.
One more villager who has drunk the medicine has been admitted to a government hospital in critical condition. The incident happened in Alagappuram village in Tamil Nadu where Muthupandi has a makeshift clinic for consulting patients, reported AFP.
“They were unconscious and vomiting and were shifted to hospital where four of them died,” local police officer Muthiah told AFP.
According to the police, posing as a doctor, Muthupandi used to conduct a clinic in the village near Thenkasi where people from nearby villages visit to consult him. On Sunday, he prepared the medicine that he claimed cured diabetes and hypertension, and drank it first to prove its potency before serving it to the patients.
After Muthupandi, the patients started taking the medicine taking turns. Soon, they started vomiting and fell unconscious. The villagers took them to the hospital where they succumbed to the after effects of the deadly medicine.
The police have found that the practitioner had a criminal background. “There are few theft cases against him but nothing is conclusive. We are checking if he had any medical qualification,” said a police officer.
An investigation has been ordered against Muthupandi and his background.
The viscera samples of the deceased have been sent to a laboratory to know the cause of death. “It apparently looks like a case of poisoning,” government doctor Jasline Rajiah told AFP.