Bhubaneswar, July 2: A 53-year-old man took the body of his 24-year-old daughter on a trolley rickshaw from the district headquarters hospital in Puri to the crematorium in what is being seen as another instance of the unavailability of the state government's Mahaprayan hearse to transport bodies.

The district administration launched a probe to ascertain the circumstances leading to the incident that happened yesterday evening.

Dhaneswar Sahu, a daily wager from Jagannath Ballav in Chandanpur police limits, had admitted his daughter with a cardiac problem to the government-run hospital six days ago.

"After she was declared dead by the hospital authorities, I tried to arrange a vehicle to take the body to the Swargadwar crematorium but could not find any. I also called the 108 ambulance service of the government, but they did not respond. So, I arranged a trolley rickshaw and took her to the cremation ground," said Dhaneswar.

"The chief district medical officer has been asked to conduct a probe and submit a report within seven days. Besides, the district administration will provide all support to the family of the deceased," said Puri sub-collector Madhusudan Das.

Last August, the state government had launched the Mahaprayan scheme to transport bodies for free from government hospitals.

Daana Majhi, a resident of Kalahandi district, had come into the spotlight in August last year after a picture of him carrying his dead wife on his shoulders was splashed on national and international media.

The 45-year-old farmer had to carry his wife on his shoulders from the Kalahandi district headquarters hospital because he did not find any vehicle to transport it.

The Prime Minister of Bahrain had donated money to the poor farmer after getting to know about Majhi.

Several such incidents have been reported in the recent past raising questions on the effectiveness of the state government's scheme.