Bhubaneswar: A day after issuing the SOP for scientifically disposing of 28 unclaimed bodies of victims of Odisha’s triple train tragedy, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange informed that the CBI team, who is probing the accident, will arrive here within two days.
“The process will be initiated once CBI officials arrive in the city. The bodies will be handed over and cremated in their presence. The cremation will be held at Bharatpur and Satya Nagar and other crematoriums,” he said.
The commissioner said that the standard operating procedure was issued after Khurda administration wrote to the BMC to prepare for the cremations of the bodies, currently preserved at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, on getting the go-ahead from the CBI.
“We then requested AIIMS-Bhubaneswar authorities to hand over the body to us. Today, they wrote to the CBI to be present during the handing over of bodies and the cremations. We are waiting for further clearance from them,” he added.
“The director, AIIMS, shall hand over the 28 unidentified bodies lying in the mortuary of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar to the health officer, BMC following existing rules/ procedures/ rituals/ guidelines of state/central government and NHRC for cremation of the bodies.”
The BMC health officer will receive the bodies and maintain a record of the same. The entire process will be video-graphed. The June 2 crash, considered the deadliest in the Indian Railways’ history, claimed 296 lives and left over 1,000 injured.
The AIIMS-Bhubaneswar had received 162 bodies and 81 of them were handed over to the family members of the victims in the first phase. Another 53 bodies were later given to the family members following DNA tests. Rightful claimants were not found for the remaining 28 bodies. “Not many turned up to claim the bodies in the last one month,” said AIIMS-Bhubaneswar executive director Dr Ashutosh Biswas.
The bodies were kept in at least five deep freezer containers procured from the Paradip Port Trust.
Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das had earlier told the media that bodies will be handed over to the corporation in the presence of CBI officials and the cremation is likely to be held on Tuesday.