New Delhi, Oct. 31: A day after a bitter battle over a tiny body, two families have agreed to cremate it together.

Charred beyond recognition in the blast that devastated Sarojini Nagar market on Saturday, the body will also be put under the DNA scanner to identify it.

Apurba Sarma, the lone person to escape unscathed among a group of nine from Assam, was convinced the body was of his sister’s daughter Maitreyee.

But a rude shock came his way when Balbir Singh, an IAF official from Jhajjar in Haryana, claimed it was the body of his niece ? brother Dilbagh Singh’s daughter. Balbir had also laid claim to another body ? that of three-year-old Utkarsh Gupta.

Delhi police today decided to allow a joint cremation after blood samples are drawn from the two bodies for the DNA tests, which will be done 72 hours after the deaths.

Deputy commissioner Ravinder Yadav informed the claimants about the decision at his office when they met him this evening.

As Apurba waits to light his niece’s pyre, his six-year-old daughter Mriganki and sister Pranati ? Maitreyee’s mother ? are battling for their lives. Maitreyee’s father Kumud Bhattacharyya, a bank officer based in Goalpara, in Assam, perished in the blast.

The Delhi government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the victims, Rs 1 lakh for deceased minors, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 5,000 for those with minor injuries.

The government also decided to reward the driver and conductor of a bus who displayed exemplary alertness by throwing out a bomb in Govindpuri on Saturday, adds PTI.

Driver Kuldeep will be regularised while conductor Budh Prakash has earned an out-of-turn promotion.

The Delhi cabinet, at a meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit, also decided to given them Rs 2 lakh each. Police said at least eight to 10 people would have died had the bomb exploded inside the bus.