Silchar, Oct. 7: The Cachar district administration handed over the body of 32-year-old Badal Saotal to his family this afternoon after exhuming it from the grave early this morning.
Badal died in a road accident on September 30 at Moynagarh tea estate under Borkhola police station in Cachar district.
The administration, which allegedly conducted Badal's funeral, was forced to exhume the body after his wife and family members urged them to do so.
Badal's death sparked tension in Moynagarh tea estate as the driver of the truck which ran over him was beaten to death and his body set on fire by the mob.
Cachar additional deputy commissioner A.R. Sheikh told The Telegraph here today that Badal's body was laid to rest in a burial ground here after taking the consent of his father-in-law Mukul Saotal and other villagers. He said Mukul had signed the receipt copy.
However, Badal's wife Rina told The Telegraph that Mukul was unlettered and could not have signed on any paper. "The receipt of my husband's body has the full signature of my father, who does not even have the knowledge of alphabets. It is really shocking," she alleged.
Asked about the reason for not taking Badal's body to his village, Cachar superintendent of police Rajveer Singh told this correspondent that when the body was handed over to Mukul, he had asked them to bury it here. "He (Mukul) also urged the police to help him conduct the funeral service and the police did everything according to the law," Singh said.
Barak Cha Jana Jagriti Manch, an NGO working for the tea tribe community of Barak Valley, today accused the police of pressurising Mukul to sign the receipt. "Mukul cannot read or write. He always uses his thumbprint. It is really strange that he signed the receipt copy in Bengali," said Sanjoy Thakur, executive member of the Manch.
The organisation today threatened to take legal action against the police and district administration for depriving Badal's family of conducting his funeral according to religious norms.
Mukul is one of the 27 people who are accused of being involved in the murder of truck driver Sajid Ahmed Barbhuiya, a resident of Borbond in Hailakandi district.
Mukul is now in police custody.
