Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has initiated the process of cremating unclaimed bodies of the Bahanaga train tragedy from today.
The exercise will continue for two days, BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said.
“We have deployed three dead body carrier vehicles on behalf of BMC. We have now started taking over those bodies for cremation. We have the capacity to finish the cremation task within the next one or two days,” added Kulange.
The cremation started after AIIMS-Bhubaneswar authorities handed over the bodies preserved in the mortuary for the last four months.
As of now, a total of 21 bodies have been handed over to BMC by AIIMS authorities, as per the latest report.
The cremation is being performed with government and NHRC protocols.
As many as nine bodies were cremated at Bharatpur cremation ground. The civic body will also cremate bodies at Satyanagar crematorium.
The AIIMS had kept a total of 162 bodies in the mortuary. Some of them were handed over to their families after physical verification. As many as 53 bodies were handed over after DNA sample matching. However, the remaining 28 bodies had remained unclaimed.
The CBI which has been probing into the tragic train mishap is the custodian of the bodies kept at the AIIMS. The central agency had earlier written a letter to the district collector of the Khurda requesting for the disposal of the unidentified bodies.
