MEERUT, July 31 -- About 40 people, mostly children, fell sick in Kanakpur Kalan village of Najibabad tehsil in Bijnor district on Tuesday night after allegedly consuming contaminated 'chaat' from local vendors. The sudden outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea triggered panic in the area, prompting a swift response from health and district authorities. In the late hours of Tuesday evening, several people started experiencing stomach-related ailments. Within hours, multiple families reported children suffering from acute vomiting and diarrhoea, raising concerns of a food poisoning outbreak. Health teams rushed to the spot and shifted around 40 people to the nearby Samipur Community Health Centre. Five critically ill children, identified as Mulfaiz, Ilma, Sanubi, Arhama, and Ali, all aged between four and seven years, were referred to the district hospital for advanced treatment. Circle officer (CO) Nitesh Pratap Singh and station house officer Dheeraj Solanki reached the village with their teams to oversee the transportation of patients and initiate a preliminary probe. A team from the food safety department was called to collect food samples for testing. "There are three to four places in the village where chaat is sold. Only after lab results will it be clear from where the food was purchased," the CO said. Most of the patients have since been discharged....