Unidentified corpses in river Ganga send Uttar Pradesh government in a tizzy

The entire state administration has gone into a tizzy over the recovery of over a hundred unidentified bodies found floating in the Ganga at Unnao, about 50km from the state capital. Even a day after the recovery of the bodies, officials have no clue about where the bodies had come from, how they died or who they are. Most of the bodies have been disfigured after remaining in the water for several days.

Even before the officialdom could get over this disquieting episode, six more bodies were found floating in the Betwa in Baruasagar area of Jhansi district. A local police official told reporters that the bodies had probably been cast into the river since they must have remained unidentified. He refused to comment on whether this was the handiwork of irresponsible police officials.

The BJP has started making an issue out of it, blaming the state government for not taking the matter seriously enough, though CM Akhilesh Yadav has ordered an inquiry. The BJP has also accused the SP regime of heaping dishonour upon the dead as the bodies in Unnao have been buried in the sand on the bank where they were found in a rather unseemly hurry with the help of heavy machinery.

Unnao district magistrate Saumya Agarwal told this correspondent that DNA sampling of all bodies had been done before their burial. "We have buried them since that was the unanimous opinion of the locals, the officials and some eminent members of society we consulted," she said.

Asked about the mystery behind the sudden recovery of such a large number of human bodies at one point, she told reporters: "At this juncture, the most probable explanation seems to be the change of course of the river due to the construction of a new barrage in Unnao."

IG Ashutosh Pandey said this was a "common sight" around this time of the year as there is little water left in the stream, though he said this time the number of bodies recovered was abnormally high. "Poor people do not carry out the cremation rites and cast bodies into the river instead," he said. "There is a cremation 'ghat' nearby and many half-burnt bodies are thrown into the river from there," he added.

The bodies were first noticed on Tuesday by some villagers on the Pariyar ghat in Unnao where crows and dogs were feasting on the decomposing and ill-smelling corpses. A huge crowd gathered at the site. Police and local administration officials soon took control of the situation and cordoned off the area.

Meanwhile, UP BJP chef LK Bajpayee has said that the bodies should have been cremated with dignity instead of being buried in the sand. "The state government seems to be in a big hurry to hush up the matter," he said, demanding a high-level inquiry. SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary rebutted the charge saying the BJP was playing petty politics over dead bodies.

In Delhi, Union minister for water resources and Ganga cleaning Uma Bharati said, "We have also received information through the media, party workers and ministry officials over the issue."

She said she had spoken to the district magistrate of Unnao and "I have also sought information from the Uttar Pradesh Government on how it happened."