TWO BOOKED FOR DUMPING BODY IN RIVER IN U.P.

BALRAMPUR: A case has been filed against two men after a purported video of the two dumping the body of person who died of Covid-19 complications in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur was circulated on social media, officials said on Sunday.

In the video, recorded by people driving by the spot, one of them men can be seen wearing a PPE kit.

Balrampur chief medical officer Vijay Bahadur Singh on Sunday said the deceased has been identified as that of Prem Nath Mishra, a resident of Sohratgarh in UP’s Siddharth Nagar district.

“Prem Nath Mishra was hospitalised on May 25 after he contracted COVID-19 and succumbed to the disease on May 28. The body was handed over to family members as per the COVID-19 protocol. In the video, which went viral on social media, it can be seen that the body was thrown into the Rapti river,” Singh said.

A case has been registered at the Kotwali police station in this

regard, he said.

The incident has been reported days after images of bodies, suspected to be those of Covid-19 patients, floating in the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar raised alarm. More bodies were later found buried in the sand on the banks of the Ganga in UP’s Prayagraj district.

The country is currently battling a devastating second wave of the pandemic, which just weeks before overwhelmed the health infrastructure with several cities, including the national capital, reporting severe shortage of medical oxygen and other essential drugs used in the treatment of Covid-19.