‘Family poisoned with thallium mixed in panjiri’: Survivor alleges murder attempt by employee

“Within 10 days, all of us were put on ventilator support,” she said.

She stated that her newborn granddaughter, who had consumed only breast milk for a single day, was also affected. “Even traces of poison were found in the baby’s body,” Kapoor said, adding that several relatives from the in-laws’ family were hospitalised and placed on ventilators.

As her condition worsened, Kapoor was airlifted from Germany to India. She was initially admitted to Medanta Hospital, later shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and is currently undergoing treatment at Paras Hospital.
Doctors later confirmed that the illness was caused by thallium poisoning and not a natural disease. “Doctors told me this is an extremely dangerous chemical poison that damages the body from within and often goes undetected in routine tests for the first three days,” Kapoor said.

According to medical reports from Germany, the thallium level in her newborn granddaughter’s blood was recorded at 47.0, against a normal level of 0.2. Her daughter Ranjeeta Batra’s thallium level was found to be 9984.0. “My daughter’s baby consumed breast milk for just one day. After that, even she could not stand,” Kapoor said.

Kapoor has expressed strong suspicion against her employee who had been living at her Mohali residence for the past four–five years and was also associated with Global Vision Network.

“Before I left for Germany, my employee, who hails from Himachal, was the only person staying in my house. I had given him a room on the upper floor. I suspect him,” she said.

She claimed that the German police seized household items during their investigation and confirmed thallium poisoning in their reports, copies of which she possesses. Based on these findings, she submitted a written complaint to the Mohali police through her brother on January 18, but alleged that no FIR had been registered even till February 4.

On Wednesday, Kapoor again met SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans, who assigned the probe to SP (rural) Manpreet Singh. However, she alleged that no concrete action has been taken so far. “My only demand is that an FIR should be registered first,” she said.

Kapoor’s condition remains critical. She said that the antidote to thallium poisoning has been recently introduced in India and is manufactured by only three companies. “I have to take the medicine three times a day. Even now, I cannot stand on my own,” she said.

She stated, “My employee used to speak with me regularly while I was in Germany. However, on the day I came to know that poison had been mixed in the food and questioned him, he went missing from the house and all his three phones were switched off and her company’s letter head, stamps, chequebooks and other important documents were missing. This deepened my suspicion against him.” She has demanded a high-level investigation and security for her family.
When contacted, SP (Rural) Manpreet Singh said the matter had come to his notice and was being treated with utmost seriousness. “The victim met us today. We are verifying all details and medical reports. After a thorough investigation, an FIR will be registered and the accused will be arrested,” he said.