Regadgatta, Chhattisgarh: After nearly 20 days the story of Regadgatta made headlines, a team of doctors from Jagdalpur Medical College reached the village on Wednesday to collect the blood samples and examine the cause of the unknown illness that has claimed lives of almost 61. During their stay of two days, the team also collected samples of water, food and liquor that were being consumed by those affected.

The team on Thursday night finished collecting the samples and returned to the HQs.

Earlier on August 12, Minister Kawasi Lakhma had also visited the village to take stock of the situation interacted with the villagers and assured medical help at the earliest.

The matter of the village located in Konta development block was raised after locals handed over a letter to Sukma District Collector on 27th July, claiming 61 people including young men, and women have died since 2020. The people who passed away had symptoms of swelling on their hands and legs. “Preliminary investigation suggests that 47 people died in that village in the last three years but all of them did not die due to the same reason as claimed by the locals,” he said in a media interaction. Around 130 families are residing in the village which has a population of more than 1000 people.