Dantewada: The coffins of three Chhattisgarh policemen killed in a Maoist landmine blast in Dantewada on Sunday night were transported in a municipality garbage collection vehicle for the guard of honour ceremony, the state’s police chief admitted on Tuesday.
“No ambulance was available at the time… it was the only municipality vehicle available,” Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan said, adding the truck was washed and cleaned before the coffins were placed on it.
The bodies of Laxman Bhagat, Aslan Ekka and Bhushan Mandwai were brought to Dantewada town from the blast site in Kirandul, some 40 km away, on Monday. The bodies were then dispatched to the policemen’s respective native villages.
Dantewada’s Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg admitted that it was a municipality vehicle, but declined to elaborate.
When asked whether it was a garbage vehicle, he said after a long silence: “I don’t know what kind of vehicle it was, but it was a municipality vehicle.”
“No one made any effort to bring an ambulance. A constable who was asked to dispatch the bodies for the guard of honour, phoned the Kirandul Nagar Palika to send a vehicle,” Dantewada-based journalist Vinod Singh said. (IANS)