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Twenty inmates of the government run Beggars’ Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore have died in the last 30 hours, allegedly due to food poisoning and poor hygienic conditions.

The condition of another six inmates is said to be serious.

The sudden deaths have led to chaos at the centre on the city’s outskirts with nearly 300 out of the 2,500 inmates escaping from it accusing the authorities of neglecting them. Shockingly, 11 victims were cremated without conducting an autopsy.

The police have registered a case and started investigation.

The first death was reported on Tuesday. Eleven people died the following day and another eight on Thursday. Of the 20 victims, three are women.

The victims were all in the 55- 75 age group. Though the authorities concerned are maintaining that the deaths were due to “ natural” causes, food poisoning is said to be the prime reason.

“ A donor served us food last Sunday at the centre. From Monday onwards, we developed stomach pain. Ten people were immediately admitted to the hospital but they could not make it,” said Alakappa, an inmate.

Doctors attending to the ailing inmates said most of them are suffering from gastroenteritis.

“ We are not sure about the cause of gastroenteritis. It could be because of food poisoning or poor hygienic conditions at the centre. We are awaiting the victims’ reports to ascertain the cause,” a doctor said.

The deaths have prompted the state government to order a probe into the incident.

“ To ascertain the exact cause of the deaths, we have ordered a full- scale inquiry. There could be a possibility that terminally ill patients were also admitted to the centre, resulting in higher cases of deaths,” said D. Sudhakar, Karnataka’s social welfare minister.