Forensic tests found zinc phosphide in the Dokadia family’s viscera and the watermelon they ate on the ill-fated night. The findings have shifted the Mumbai Police probe from suspected food poisoning to tracing how the toxin entered the food.
The deaths of four members of a family in south Mumbai were caused by the presence of zinc phosphide, a highly toxic chemical commonly used in rat poison, according to findings from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Officials traced the substance in both the viscera of the victims and the watermelon consumed by the family shortly before they fell critically ill.
