A farmer died and 67 others were hospitalised due to alleged food poisoning after they participated in a lunch given by a seed manufacturing company in Dindori, India on Wednesday. The police have arrested the caterer who distributed the food and the cook who prepared it.

Police sources said a seed manufacturing company had arranged a seminar on hybrid tomato US 1143 at Umrale village in Dindori tehsil of Nashik district on Wednesday. Around 300 farmers attended the seminar. Later lunch was served which, according to the farmers included mattha. Mattha, a digestive drink, is curd diluted with water with addition of coriander and spices.

After the lunch, the farmers began feeling uneasy. Farmer Atul Pandurang Kedar (41) of Umrale Bu village began feeling dizzy and collapsed. He was treated at a private hospital in Umrale and then rushed Magnum Heart Hospital in Nashik. From here he was shifted to Nashik Civil Hospital, where he succumbed to the alleged food poisoning on Wednesday evening while 67 others have been admitted to various hospitals.

Senior police inspector Rajesh Shirsath told The Asian Age on Thursday that they had sealed the food, which included rice, jelabi and mattha. “Our forensic team checked everything and will submit its report to our seniors,” he said.