Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) after at least 137 nursing and paramedical students fell ill due to suspected food poisoning at a private hostel in Mangaluru’s Shaktinagar on Monday.

The FIR was registered against City Hospital Admistration Department and City Nursing College Hostel Administration Department for allegedly providing poisonous food to the hostel students and not reporting the incident to the district administration, an official said.

“A case has been registered under IPC 1860 (U/s-176,328,337) at Mangaluru East police station. So far 231 students got treatment in 8 different hospitals of the city,” district surveillance officer said in his press release. The FIR was registerd following a complaint by Jagadeesh, a district surveillance officer.

Meanwhile, District surveillance officer issued a notice to the hostel do not cook any food in the mess, they said.

The district health team and doctors have visited the hostel and taken the samples of food and water and are waiting for the FSL report, officials said.
The college administration announced holiday until the situation gets cleared.

The students were rushed to various private hospitals in the city on Monday night after complaining of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea. Relatives of the students had gathered outside the hospitals where they had been admitted.

City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that the police are trying to find the reason behind the incident.

“At about 9 pm, around 400-500 people gathered in front of city hospital in the city. Most of them are students and the rest are their family members. Since morning 2 am more than 100 girl students have complained of food poisoning and hospitalised. 137 students were admitted to different hospitals in the city. We are trying to find out the reason,” Shashi Kumar said.

Giving the details of the incident, District Health Inspector Dr Ashok informed that all the students are out of danger.

“The general nursing and BSc nursing students have been admitted to various hospitals due to food poisoning. The students got panic. About 130 students have got treated. There is no need to worry or panic. We will visit the hostel and will interact with the warden and find out the source. All are out of danger. No casualties have been reported so far,” said Dr Ashok District Health Inspector.