Disappearance Of Ashes From Crematorium In Himachal Pradesh's Chambaghat An Oversight, Say Police

Solan: Days after the ashes of a deceased woman disappeared from a locker at the crematorium at Chambaghat in Himachal Pradesh's Solan, police analyzed footage of CCTV installed in the area and rejected claims of theft and said it was in fact, an oversight.

According to police, the complainant, Kamal Pal’s mother died on December 16. Her last rites were performed the same day at the Chambaghat crematorium. The ashes collected after the cremation were kept in locker number two, the keys of which were with the family.

On December 25, when Pal and his family reached the crematorium to collect the ashes, before proceeding to Haridwar to immerse it in the Ganga river, they found that the locker had been opened and the ashes were missing. Pal, a resident of Lower Bazar in Solan, later released a video appealing people not to misuse his mother’s ashes.

Police conducted a probe and as part of it scanned footages of CCTVs installed in and around the crematorium. Solan SP Gaurav Singh stated that the police checked the CCTV footage and also examined the entries in the crematorium's register.

"Investigation revealed that one Pranab Ghosh's uncle, Vijay Ghosh, was also cremated at the Chambaghat crematorium. His ashes were kept locked in a locker at the crematorium. As the lockers and the keys were identical, Pranab mistakenly opened locker number twoand removed the ashes of Pal's mother on December 19 instead of his uncle's," Singh said.

He said Pranab made the error as it was still dark in the morning. Pranab went ahead and immersed the ashes of Pal's mother in the Ganga river in Haridwar. He learnt of his mistake only after the police probed the disappearance of ashes of Pal's mother.

Pranab and his family admitted to the mishap and apologized to Pal who said he does not want any legal action in the matter.

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