A Varanasi-based businessman, Sandeep Singh, has been allegedly poisoned with thallium, a rare and highly toxic substance, prompting the police to register an attempt to murder case.
The victim, a former Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha national general secretary, is currently undergoing treatment at his Lucknow residence under medical supervision.
Police are probing whether the suspected poison was administered during travel, hospitalisation, business meetings or through food consumed outside the home.
The case has triggered concern due to the nature of the toxin, which is rare, difficult to detect and often mimics neurological disorders in its early stages.
Initial symptoms of fever, tingling in the legs, body pain and vomiting progressively worsened into a severe neurological condition.
Doctors at a Mumbai hospital reportedly detected traces of thallium in his blood, prompting the family to lodge a complaint.
The FIR was finally registered on Wednesday, weeks after the Mumbai police commissioner again raised the matter with UP Police officials.
