For Uttar Pradesh cops, body is 'garbage'

Callous approach

It appears that for the Uttar Pradesh Police, a body is nothing more than garbage.

In an incident that would put humanity to shame, the Uttar Pradesh Police allegedly used an excavator to fish out a body from a drain and carry it for post-mortem, along with a pile of garbage.

Two constables have been suspended in this connection, sources said.
The shocking incident occurred in Ferozabad town, about 325 km from here, on Sunday.

According to reports, people in the Nalbandan area of the town spotted a body in the drain and informed the police. The cops then asked municipality officials for an excavator. The machine fished out the body with its “big paws,” threw it on a pile of garbage and carried it to a mortuary, four kilometres from there.

The deceased was identified as Shivam Joshi. He used to sell food on the streets and was missing for five days. He was suspected to have been killed.

Parents of the deceased pleaded with the policemen to let them take the body to the mortuary in a respectful manner. But the cops did not relent. The body was not even wrapped.

Two cops, Vijay Pal Singh and Mann Singh, have been suspended.

It is not the first time that the Uttar Pradesh Police treated a body with disrespect.

Barely a couple of months ago, policemen had dragged the body of a woman for post-mortem in Kushinagar district, about 350 km from here. The entire scene was captured by local TV channels.

The footage showed the woman’s body being thrown out of a vehicle.

A policeman held the body by the legs and dragged it to the mortuary of the district hospital.