Twenty tribals, including nine of the Birhor tribe, on the verge of extinction, died in Chatra district, Jhar-khand in October. State government attributed the deaths to food poisoning while social workers claimed they died of hunger. A report in early November, by a committee set up by the state government to probe their deaths, said the cause was food poisoning but questioned the lack of post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause. Meanwhile, three more Birhors have died.