Floating bodies in Indira canal giving sleepless nights to the police

The Indira Gandhi Canal, which runs over 650 kilometres through Rajasthan, is considered a lifeline for thousands of farmers. The free flow of water is however giving sleepless nights to the police with the canal churning out bodies of murdered people in Jaisalmer almost every week.

It is a routine for residents of Mohangarh and Ramgarh areas in the district to spot floating bodies. In 2012, they found 32 bodies floating in the canal. As many as 14 bodies have been found so far this year.

Eight bodies have been found over the past one week from the canal in Jaisalmer where it ends after having an 800 kilometre-long flow from Punjab. So far, the cops were able to identify only one of the bodies found this year. Most of them are of people who were murdered, they said. The criminals dump the bodies in the canal either in Haryana and Punjab or in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar to avoid detection by the cops.

"We had found three bodies at two different places on Sunday. Only one was identified due to a tattoo on his hand. The deceased man turned out to be Jasveer Singh, an elected sarpanch at Haryana's Chattargarh Patti. He was murdered by his wife with help of her paramour," said SP, Jaisalmer, Pankaj Kumar Choudhary. Haryana police came to Jaisalmer and took away the body, the SP added.

After Jasveer went missing, a case was lodged with Haryana's Sirsa police station where the family members also gave Jasveer's photo and told the police that his wife's name was tattooed on his right hand. Based on these details, the body was identified.

Haryana police informed their counterparts in Jaisalmer that Jasveer was murdered on February 10 and his body was immediately dumped in the canal. It took 35 days for the body to flow to Jaisalmer before being spotted in the canal. The Haryana police are said to have arrested the wife and her paramour.

Similarly, the body of one Gurlal Das was recovered on November 10 last year. It came up that the victim was a resident of Sriganganagar. He too was killed allegedly by his wife Sonu with the help of her paramour. Officials said that of the 32 bodies found in 2012, the police have been able to identify only 14.

Sunday 31 March 2013

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