Two bodies found in Runjh river in MP’s Panna district: Official

Bhopal, May 12

Two bodies were found in a river in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district, an official said on Wednesday while denying reports that as many as six bodies had been spotted.

The deceased were not COVID-19 patients, according to their families.

The reports of bodies being found in the Runjh river near Nandanpur village in Ajaygarh tehsil came in the wake of grim visuals of bodies in the Ganga in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“A team of officials and police visited Kali Ghat on the Runjh river near Nandanpur after getting reports that bodies were found floating there on May 11,” district collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra told PTI.

The two bodies were fished out. Following inquiry, the deceased were identified as Shivram Ahirwar (90) and Kallu Ahirwar (75), both from  Beharsarvaria village.

The two bodies had been consigned to the river by the deceased men’s kin on May 5 and May 8, respectively. As per the local tradition, when an ailing person dies, the body is released in the river, the collector said.

According to villagers and family members both were not suffering from COVID-19. Shivram was suffering from a skin disease while Kallu died of cancer, they said.

The police buried the bodies near the river after completing legal formalities and with the consent of relatives, the collector said.

The Runjh river flows from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh so there was no question of bodies flowing down from the northern state, he said.

State Congress leader Kamal Nath claimed in a tweet earlier that six bodies were found in the river and demanded probe.

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala also tweeted about the incident, asking “what kind of Shavraj is this?” —PTI