In the first of the proposals for the year 2024, the Uttarakhand Waqf Board has decided to conduct the last rites for all the unidentified and unclaimed bodies, of all religions, which will be found in Uttarakhand.
The Waqf board will also bear the cost of the cremation and burial of the deceased persons whose families don’t have the money to perform the same.
The announcement was made by the Chairman of the State Waqf Board, Shadab Shams, on Saturday.
“We have seen that many unidentified and unclaimed bodies are found in the State, every year. But one can ascertain the religion of the person who died. The Waqf board will perform the last rites of the deceased,” he said.
He further said that a proposal for the same will be presented in the first meeting of the Waqf board in early January.
Since the State of Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, the State police have found more than 4,700 unidentified dead bodies.
Sources in the police department say that the biggest reason behind such a large number of unidentified bodies being found in the State is due to the heavy influx of tourists every year. “In many cases, the crime had taken place [elsewhere] and only the bodies were thrown in the State. This increases the challenge in front of the police,” said a senior police official attached with the headquarters.
