COVID-19: BMC launches probe into disappearance of dead bodies in Mumbai

Rattled by the reports of a couple of incidents of dead bodies going missing, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has ordered separate probes.

"We have taken the incidents seriously," Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said on Tuesday.

A COVID-19 patient's body went missing on Tuesday from Dr B R Ambedkar Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali but the body was discovered hours later near a suburban station.

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Pednekar visited the hospital for an assessment and ordered the inquiry.

She was accompanied by BMC Health Committee chairman Ameya Ghole.

The mayor termed the incident as “unfortunate” which happened despite a professional private security agency deployed at the hospital along with CCTVs.

“It was an unfortunate incident... First, a COVID-19 patient goes missing from the hospital and then his body is found. We will probe the incident to know the exact facts in the matter," she said, adding that the police is also looking into the issue.

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The man was reported to be ‘missing’ from the COVID-19 ward on Monday but subsequently, his dead body was found near Borivali station and brought back to the same hospital as an ‘unidentified’ person.

The relatives of the family identified him as their missing kin. In a similar incident, the Rajawadi Hospital at Ghatkopar ordered a separate probe into the missing body of a 23-year man— an accident victim— from its morgue while the COVID-19 test report was awaited.

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Maharashtra BJP vice president Dr Kirit Somaiya has alleged that in the last five days, six bodies were reported missing from hospitals.