Relatives of the dead in Wednesday’s serial blasts in Mumbai are being fleeced by unscrupulous touts masquerading as regular agents of JJ hospital.
Relatives of the dead in Wednesday’s serial blasts in Mumbai are being fleeced by unscrupulous touts masquerading as regular agents of JJ hospital. One victim’s relative had to shell out Rs24,000 in “clearance” money to secure his body and get it transported to Kolkata.
The police have arrested one Prasad Upadhyay and an offence has been registered against him with the JJ Marg police station.
Prabhat Chittaranjan Nayak, 27, died in the Zaveri Bazaar bomb blast on Wednesday. His relatives were accosted by an “agent” who asked for the bribe. They say they refused to pay. “We brought his body to Kolkata by plane. It was then taken to our native place in an ambulance. We paid Rs2,000 to the driver,” Nayak’s relative Chandankumar Das told DNA from Kolkata. Sources, however, claim that Nayak’s family fears that admitting to having paid a bribe could deprive them of the compensation announced by the state and central governments.
JJ hospital ordered an inquiry and officers of the general as well as post-mortem departments were questioned. It was found that a “bribe” was given and accepted; from not within the hospital premises but from outside it. The hospital said money need not paid to any “agent”.
Every district check-post asks to look at the death certificate if a body is en route to any destination.
“Civic authorities issue a death certificate to the relatives of the victim. After showing this certificate, those with the body will not be stopped or questioned,” said JJ hospital dean Dr TP Lahane.
“We are investigating on the modus-operandi of these people and whether there are other such touts who have charged more money,” said Chhering Dorje, deputy commissioner of police, Zone I.
Senior officials said Nayak’s relatives thought they could be stopped at several places and therefore paid up. “They must have succumbed to pressure. Agents are like vultures who do not understand the seriousness of the issue,” an official said.
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