New Delhi: Three police personnel allegedly disposed of the remains of a road accident victim in a canal in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, news agency IANS reported. Taking note of the incident, Muzaffarpur police suspended the three officials with immediate effect.
According to the report, the incident took place after one person was killed in a road accident at Dhodhi canal bridge in Fakuli outpost in Muzaffarpur district on Sunday. On receiving information, three police personnel, including a police van driver and two home guards reached the accident spot. They dragged the mangled body and allegedly threw some of its parts into the canal, IANS reported.
The matter came to light after an onlooker made a video of the incident and posted it on the social media.
Speaking on the incident, Muzaffarpur DSP, East Range, Shaharyar Akhtar said that the accused police personnel disposed some parts of the mangled body. The body of the accident victim has been sent for a post-mortem examination, he said.
"The preliminary investigation reveals that the three cops violated the norms of autopsy and hence were suspended from their duties with immediate effect," the DSP said.
"Some of the remains, including the clothes and some other body parts were strewn on the street and hence those remains were disposed of by the accused police personnel," he added.
The senior police officer further said as per law, disposing of the remains of an accident victim amounts to destruction of evidence. Moreover, the victim could not be identified and therefore, the family members could not be informed, the DSP said, as reported by the news agency.
“Without following the legal procedures and consent of the victim's family, police cannot dispose of the remains of a victim on their own,” the DSP added.