LUCKNOW: After its ‘inhuman’ act of sending the bodies of deceased migrants in an open truck to Jharkhand, the Auraiya district administration, in a face-saving exercise, initiated action against lekhpals who were entrusted with the responsibility of making arrangements for sending the bodies and the
injured migrants to the neighbouring state.
Taking action, Auraiyya DM Abhishek Singh suspended five lekhpals named Ankit Agarwal, Lalit Pratap, Shashikant Porwal, Bhupendra Pal and Rocky. Moreover, a police sub-inspector and seven constables were also suspended for negligence in discharging duty in connection with the incident.
Notably, the tarpaulin-wrapped bodies of migrant workers, who were killed in a major road accident in Auraiyya on Saturday, were stuffed in an open truck. The labourers injured in the acciden were also ferried in the same truck to Jharkhand and West Bengal late on Sunday night.
In Auryaiyya, 24 migrant workers had died and 36 were injured on Saturday early morning when a trailer truck carrying sacks of lime, along with 43 people, rammed the back of a stationary truck with many other migrant workers sitting in it on the national highway.
A day later, as the pictures of the open DCM truck carrying the bodies of the deceased and injured migrants together went viral on social media, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren took to twitter to express his anguish calling it an “inhuman act” urging the UP CM and Bihar CM to make proper arrangements parallel to the human dignity to ferry the bodies till Jharkhand border where the state government would receive them and make further arrangements to send them to Bokaro.
As the state authorities got to know about it, Auriaya district administration was sounded and asked to rectify the wrong-doing immediately. Consequently, the truck, which had already left Auraiyya, was intercepted by the Prayagraj Police near Nawabganj. Immediately, a fleet of eight air-conditioned ambulances was arranged to transport the bodies.
According to information, bodies of at least 17 workers, 11 from Jharkhand and six from West Bengal, were being transported in DCM truck. Of 11 migrants of Jharkhand, one belonged to Palamu and the rest hailed from Boakro.
IG (Range Prayagraj) KP Singh said the bodies were sent separately in air-conditioned ‘deadbody van’ and arrangements were made to send the workers to their native places in another vehicle.
There are only two hearses in the entire district. Therefore, the bodies were transported in a truck with the injured, a senior official said.
It remains to be explained as to why hearses were not requested from adjoining districts like Kanpur, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat.