Earthmover used to take Covid patient's body to crematorium; 2 suspended

Hyderabad: A municipal commissioner and a sanitary inspector in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh were suspended on Friday after an earthmover was used to shift the body of a suspected Covid patient to the cremation ground.

The 70-year-old had died on Thursday night with symptoms of Coronavirus. After sanitising the locality, the civic staff had shifted the body to the crematorium on an earthmover. Following this, a video of the earthmover carrying the wrapped body and four others in PPEs went viral on social media.

Taking note of the incident and terming it an "inhuman act", the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office directed Srikakulam District Collector J Nivas to inquire into the matter.

District Collector J Nivas conducted an inquiry and suspended Palasa Municipal Commissioner P Nagendra Kumar and sanitary inspector N Rajeev.

Later, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also tweeted about the same.