Bhubaneswar: The death toll in the food poisoning caused by mango kernel gruel in Odisha’s Kandhamal district rose to three as another woman who was undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack died today.

The deceased has been identified as Jita Majhi. She passed away at SCBMCH in the afternoon.

The woman was undergoing treatment at the ICU of the Medicine ward of the premier health institute.

She was suffering from multi-organ failure and was put on ventilator support.

It is worth mentioning here that two women--Runi Majhi (25) and Ramita Majhi (32)--of Mandipanka village under Gadapur panchayat of Daringibadi block in Kandhamal died while six others fell ill after consuming mango kernel gruel on October 30.

Among the six persons, two including Jita Majhi were shifted to SCBMCH on November 2 as their condition deteriorated.

Opposition parties as well some human rights activists have alleged that the victims were forced to consume mango kernel gruel due to delay in the supply of rations under the PDS. However, the BJP government in the state rejected the allegations.

The state government has directed the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (south) Roopa Roshan Sahoo to probe the incident and submit a report at the earliest.