Andhra Pradesh: COVID deceased bodies taken away in JCB, tractors; triggers outrage

In a shocking incident, government authorities in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district on Friday carried COVID-19 deceased persons on a JCB earthmover and tractors. According to reports, in one of the incidents, a 72-year-old COVID-19 patient's body was placed on mechanical diggers and excavators by PPE-clad municipal personnel to take for cremation in Udayapuram area of Palasa municipality. 

This incident led to severe criticism from all quarters, while the opposition has slammed the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on June 26 took to Twitter and slammed the AP government for the "inhumane treatment fo the mortal remains". He also posted a video of the JCB tractor. 

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered the immediate suspension of the Municipal Commissioner and the sanitation inspector who were involved in the incident. The CMO also directed the district collector to take immediate action.

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'Srikakulam incident a sporadic case'

Advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government on national media and inter-state affairs Amar Devulapalli on Saturday stated that the incident is a sporadic case and the government has acted by suspending the municipality officials who were involved in it. Speaking to news agency, ANI, he said, "When the Chief Minister's Office got the information about this case, immediately they instructed the District Collector (DC) J Nivas to take action against the persons responsible for the indecent burial of a senior citizen in the area. So, the DC suspended the Palasa Municipal Commissioner T Nagendra Kumar and Sanitary Inspector N Rajeev immediately."

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Speaking about N Chandrababu Naidu's tweet, he said, "Unfortunately, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted about the incident as if this is the fault of the government." He further added that the officials had informed the family of the deceased person that he was COVID-19 positive. "The officials informed the deceased person's family that he was COVID-19 positive. The man's family has 16 members in the house. The family members, villagers, and friends left the body in the middle of the road and ran away. The municipality employees organized a JCB earthmover and got the body buried in the graveyard," he said. 

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(With ANI Inputs)