Now, blame games begin over floating bodies

Patna

District magistrates of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh and Buxar in Bihar are blaming each other over the recovery of 84 bodies from the Ganga banks. Mangla Prasad Singh, DM of Ghazipur, on Tuesday claimed only 13 bodies were found on the banks of Ganga in his district and they had come from Bihar.

However, Buxar DM Aman Sameer contradicted his Ghazipur counterpart and claimed most of the 71 bodies found floating at Mahadev Ghat in Chausa block were from UP.

DM of Buxar and SP, Neeraj Kumar Singh, visited Chausa late Monday night and retrieved 71 bodies. All bodies found at Mahadeva Ghat were buried on the banks of the Ganga by using JCB machines. The DM said medical staff have collected DNA samples and swabs of the bodies for identification. He admitted majority of them must be of Corona victims.

The DM announced surveillance by drones on the banks of the Ganga to prevent people from throwing bodies into the river.

In adjoining Ghazipur, the DM said 13 bodies were found on the banks of the Ganga close to Bihar border. He said patrolling on the river side has started. He regretted the charge of his Buxar counterpart that the bodies were coming from UP. Buxar SP said an investigation has started to find out involvement of the people dumping bodies.

Bodies washed up on the banks of the Ganga were sighted for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, according to Prem Swaroopam,executive officer of Municipal Corporation.

Meanwhile, Centre has asked states to ensure vigilance to check incidences of people dumping bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims in Ganga, its tributaries.