The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on November 9 arrested a suspected terror syndicate Dr Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed, during an investigation into a plot involving the deadly chemical poison ricin.

Holding a Chinese medical degree, Dr Saiyed had a shawarma stand in Hyderabad‘s Rajendranagar and was allegedly radicalised through Telegram and social media. He had been preparing to execute a major terrorist attack via ricin, according to the police.

However, not everyone understands the scope of the ease of producing the poison.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, its availability, toxicity, ease of production, and lack of curative treatments have classified ricin as a biological weapon and a prohibited substance.

Ricin

Ricin is a highly toxic protein that is naturally found in the seeds of the castor oil plant. The seeds mostly contain 30 to 60 per cent castor oil, with ricin making up 1 to 5 per cent of the weight of the solid residue.

It is classified as a poison and can be lethal even in small amounts.

Ricin’s basic structure is that of a protein. It is extremely potent in its level of toxicity. Inhaling, ingesting, or injecting even tiny amounts can be fatal.

“Even 1 mg mixed in food can kill an adult,” Dr YK Gupta, former head of the National Poison Information Centre at AIIMS, New Delhi, was quoted by The New Indian Express.

How does it work?

Ricin works by inactivating ribosomes. Simplified: it stops cells from producing essential proteins, leading to cell death.

“Depending on which cells absorb the poison, a person can suffer multi-organ failure and even death,” Dr YK Gupta said.

The effects of Ricin, when ingested, include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and organ failure.

Breathing in ricin can cause shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness.

And while its exposure typically happens intentionally, children might consume the seeds mistakenly.

“Usually, nothing happens even then because the seed is very hardy. However, Ricin may seep out if the seed is bitten into or cracked,” he said.

Does it have an antidote?

Research shows that there is no specific antidote for ricin. This is the reason ricin has been used as a biological weapon since World War II.

“If someone comes in early enough, then vomiting may be induced to remove the poison. The stomach may also be washed to do so. However, it is likely to have been absorbed by the time one reaches hospital, in which case, the symptoms of the patient have to be managed,” Dr Gupta said.

With ricin poisoning, doctors generally do not expect it to be the cause at first because of its rarity.

Military use

As it was established to have high toxicity and its availability, ricin had attracted military interest. Toward the end of World War I, the United States studied it as a chemical agent, but researchers faced challenges with keeping it stable at varying temperatures and turning it into a fine mist that could remain airborne.

One of the many attempts at using ricin as a biological weapon was in 1980, when Iraq tried to develop it as an inhalable aerosol.

The most famous incident of ricin poisoning was the assassination of Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, in 1978 in London.

He was shot in the leg with a tiny pellet that possibly contained ricin and was fired from an umbrella by someone linked to the Bulgarian secret service.

There have been times when people tried sending ricin-laced letters via different channels to poison their targets.

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