Two bodies wrapped in plastic fished out from Ganges

KOLKATA: Two plastic-wrapped bodies, which were floating down river Ganges, were fished out of the river and cremated, maintaining Covid protocols at Manickchawk in Bengal's Malda district on Saturday.

Locals feared that the bodies were of Covid victims, dumped in the river in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The locals, who informed Malda police about the matter, claimed that the bodies had been floating in Ganges for three to four days.

Meanwhile, both the bodies were cremated in an electric crematorium following Covid norms. Autopsy of the bodies were also carried out. "Since, it remained uncertain whether the bodies were of Covid patients, the pandemic norms were followed for their cremation," said a senior state government official.

There are apprehensions that more bodies may float down the river as water-level has gone up following heavy rainfall since cyclone Yaas.