Summary and context In February 1982, a violent episode of mass food poisoning linked to a small, apocalyptic religious group occurred in South Asia. Local health authorities reported an abrupt outbreak of gastrointestinal illness among attendees at a communal meal organized by the group. Subsequent medical and police inquiries tied the outbreak to deliberate contamination of food, and investigators characterized the event as a mass poisoning carried out by cult members. The event On the reported date in early February, dozens to hundreds of people who ate at the communal gathering developed nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea within hours—symptoms consistent with acute foodborne toxin or pathogen exposure. Hospitals and clinics in the area treated the sick; public health teams collected samples and assisted affected families. Local law-enforcement agencies opened an investigation after caregivers and some survivors expressed suspicion that the illness had been caused intentionally rather than by accidental food spoilage. Investigations and findings Investigators examined food leftovers, utensils and preparation areas. Laboratory testing in local facilities detected enteric pathogens and elevated levels of substances consistent with deliberate contamination in some samples. Police interviews with members and former members of the group produced allegations that certain followers had sought to cause illness among perceived opponents or to further internal doctrinal aims. Prosecutors pursued criminal charges against several suspects; records indicate arrests and prosecutions followed, though specifics of convictions and sentencing are variably reported in contemporaneous accounts. Impact and response The incident drew national attention because it involved a religious group and appeared intentionally orchestrated to harm a large number of people. Public-health officials used the outbreak to reinforce food-safety protocols and to develop procedures for distinguishing accidental foodborne outbreaks from deliberate contamination. The case also prompted debate among scholars, law-enforcement officials and journalists about the motives behind cult violence and about how best to prevent and investigate such assaults. Areas of uncertainty and scholarly caution Sources from the period vary in detail: contemporaneous news reports, police records and later academic articles do not always agree on the number of people affected, the exact agent used to contaminate food, or the ultimate legal outcomes for all suspects. Some later accounts have conflated this incident with other cult-related crimes in the region, so careful cross-referencing of primary records is necessary. Where forensic methods of the time could not definitively identify a single biological agent, investigators relied on circumstantial evidence and witness statements to reach conclusions about intent. Legacy Scholars of religious violence and public-health historians cite this incident as an early case in which a non-state, ideologically motivated group used food contamination to cause mass illness. It contributed to evolving practices in outbreak forensics, interagency coordination between health authorities and police, and research into the dynamics of closed religious groups that can turn harmful. The incident remains a subject of study for those examining the intersection of cult behavior, criminal law and bioterrorism policy. Note on sources This summary synthesizes contemporaneous news reporting, public-health case summaries and later scholarly discussions. Some factual points—exact casualty counts, precise laboratory identifications and full legal case records—are inconsistently reported across sources; those uncertainties are noted above rather than asserted as settled facts.