Badaun rape: CBI suspends exhumation due to rainfall

Following the advice of three-member medical board, CBI started the process to exhume the bodies on Saturday afternoon as the rising river level threatened to submerge the graves, CBI sources in New Delhi said.

However, after efforts of nearly three hours when divers looked for the graves in eight-feet deep water, the agency had to abandon the process for Saturday, they said.

‘Exhumation process has been suspended due to rain and rising water levels in Ganga. District administration is contacting UP Bridge Construction Corporation for advance equipment,’ CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said in New Delhi.

The medical board and a CBI team are camping in Badaun and will review the situation on Sunday before proceeding to exhume the bodies, CBI sources said.

Executive engineer of flood division DK Jain said in Badaun that he did not see any possibility of the operation to exhume the bodies resuming on Sunday.

Superintendent of police (city) Maan Singh Chauhan said that the exhumation was earlier scheduled to be held on 20 July but considering the fact that the bodies might flow out of grave, the process started on Saturday.

He said that due to heavy rains and release of water from dams in Hardwar and Bijnor, the level of the Ganges has risen suddenly and the grave of the two girls have gone under around three-feet water.

The ASP said difficulty was being faced in exhuming the bodies due to sand surface and strong current in the river.