Bodies rot as UP cops fight over jurisdiction

As more bodies of Uttarakhand flash flood victims were piling up and rotting in Uttar Pradesh rivers, the state police, instead of fishing them out and preserving them for DNA test and post-mortems, got embroiled in a fight over jurisdiction .

The police in Bijnore and Muzaffarnagar districts, showing utter disrespect to the dead, did not make any attempt to bring the bodies ashore even though local villagers complained about the putrid odour of the decomposed bodies.

The locals claimed that several bodies had been seen floating in the Ganga. Some bodies had been there for the past four-five days, they claimed. Taking a serious note of the matter, the state government on Tuesday suspended two senior police officials in Muzaffarnagar and Bijnore districts.

 After stern action, the cops brought four bodies ashore on Tuesday and sent them for post-mortem. Reports said  the district authorities had not even arranged polythene for packing the bodies. The government has warned of strict action if the bodies were not treated with respect and were allowed to rot.

The people in Bijnore claimed that at least two more bodies were there in the Ganga but the cops did not bother to bring them ashore. So far 16 bodies, presumed to be of the victims of Uttarakhand tragedy, have been recovered from different rivers in the state.

 A large number of carcasses of cattle were also seen floating in the rivers, reports said. “The bodies will be photographed,” they said. DNA test will also be conducted so that they might be identified. Over 50 bodies which had come floating from Uttarakhand had been recovered from the Ganga in Hardwar a few days back.