Mandya, Karnataka, Mar 15 : A wrong photograph in the funeral cortege and a private hospital's refusal to keep the body of a CRPF jawan killed in a suicide attack in Srinagar, left grief-stricken mourners in this town in Karnataka today fuming.
N Satish was among the five jawans killed in the Wednesday attack and their bodies were flown to their native towns from Delhi after being brought from Srinagar yesterday for the last rites.
In an embarassing goof up, the framed photograph of brother of Satish was taken in a funeral procession in Mandya before red faced officials rectified it.
His body was later laid to rest in the presence of thousands of people who had gathered to pay their last respects.
The funeral procession proceeded from Mandya to Satish's village Alambadi after his body was kept for public homage, but soon the embarrassing lapse was noticed, triggering a blame game between the district officials and his family.
The relatives of Satish protested that the photograph was not of the slain jawan with his uncle Anand and others insisting it was that of his brother, also serving in the CRPF in Madhya Pradesh.
Mandya Deputy Commissioner B N Krishnaiah said it was provided by Satish's family and there was no lapse on the part of the district administration. As the procession wound its way, the correct photograph was brought.
In another embarrassment, a private hospital refused to keep the body of Satish, brought from Bangalore in the wee hours, in cold storage for three hours from 3 AM to 6 AM.
Minister A Ramdas said action would be taken against the hospital.
Another CRPF jawan Perumal, hailing from Tamil Nadu, was laid to rest with state honours amid a 21-gun salute at his native village Tummanayakanpatti, about 50 km from Madurai.
In Uttar Pradesh, family members of Awadh Bihari Singh initially refused to perform his last rites until Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav visits them.
“My son laid down his life, but the Chief Minister did not have time to console the martyr's wife Uma,” Singh's father Ram Kumar said in Kuthaura Bujurg village in Jalaun. The family later relented and went ahead with the last rites following assurance from a state minister that the chief minister will visit them before the 13th day rituals.
