Lucknow, June 26, 2013: Even as five more unidentified bodies of pilgrims, who are understood to have died in the flash floods caused by heavy rains in Uttarakhand, were retrieved from the Ganga in Muzaffarnagar district in the last 24 hours, two police officers were suspended by the State government on Tuesday for dereliction of duty following a “border” dispute over the reclamation of the bodies.

In all, 16 bodies have been recovered from the river ever since the hill State was devastated by rains and floods.

Those suspended are the SHO of the Ramraj police station in Muzaffarnagar district, Arvind Singh Pundir and the incharge of Kotwali police station in Bijnor, Vijay Singh Rana.

An unsavoury situation had been created when the Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar police showed laxity in recovering the bodies from the river. The delay was on account of a dispute over jurisdiction.

A Home Department spokesman said the Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar SPs had been warned of strict action if there was another controversy over reclaiming the bodies from the river.

Inspector General (Special Task Force) Ashish Gupta told reporters that all the 16 bodies were recovered from the Ganga in Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar districts. Mr. Gupta said most of the bodies were in a highly decomposed state which had made their identification impossible. The IG said the DNA samples of the deceased had been preserved and their photographs uploaded on the U.P. police website, along with the telephone numbers of the police officers concerned.

Unconfirmed reports said some bodies were seen floating in the river further downstream in Farrukhabad district. Mr. Gupta said the police had no information.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 26, 2013.