By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: Refuting allegations of theft of personal properties of the deceased in the recent road tragedy at Tongseng near Khliehriat, Deputy Commissioner of East Jaintia Hills, Abhishek Bhagotia, said that the villagers and the district police did their best to go down that steep gorge to rescue the injured and bring up the dead bodies. It was not an easy task he said.
“The accident happened at 5 am and we got the news from some other driver who informed the police station there. We were on the rescue job by 7 am,” the East Jaintia Hills DC informed.
“It is wrong of the Deputy Commissioner, Unakoti District, Tripura, Abhishek Chandra, to level such serious allegations at this juncture when we are trying our very best to address this human crisis. I have personally arranged for hotel accommodation for the family members of the deceased and injured at very nominal rates,” the DC East Jaintia Hills said adding that coffins are not readily available and had to me made out of rough hewn wood.
Bhagotia also said that the newly created district does not have the resources and wherewithal to meet the financial expenses involved in the crisis.
“The bodies of the deceased had to be carried by different public transport from Khliehriat all the way to Tripura so it is only fair that the drivers would charge for the return trip,” Bhagotia said.
Meanwhile Bhagotia informed that of the 30 dead passengers, the bodies of five of them have been shifted to NEIGRIHMS so that they are kept in the morgue there under sanitary condition. The faces of the deceased are beyond recognition and the DC has sought the help of all news agencies, national and regional, to disseminate the information so that the bodies are claimed and the proper last rites are conducted.
Meanwhile, the administration has set up a control room at Jowai for the five bodies which remain unclaimed till date.
The concerned relatives can contact Control room at Jowai on landline number: 03652-220711, email: [email protected] and mobile number: 094361-06342.
