Policemen suspended for cremating Muslim

PATNA - Two police officers have been suspended here after a Muslim banker found dead near a park was mistakenly identified as a beggar and cremated according to Hindu rites.

The body of Mohd Ishrafil, a 46-year-old State Bank of India official, was recovered near Gandhi Maidan last week. He was cremated within three hours.

According to police, Ishrafil’s body was cremated after officials assumed he was a beggar. “It was a big mistake on the part of the police,” an officer admitted Friday.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police B.S. Meena said two guilty police officials have been suspended.

Ishrafil’s family had lodged a complaint with the police Aug 12 that he was missing. This was a day before his body was found.

Ishrafil’s family wants a criminal case registered against the guilty officers.

Ishrafil’s son Mohd Sohrab Alam said the police cremated his father at Banshghat near the Ganges.

He pointed out that police usually preserve unidentified bodies for 72 hours. But in his father’s case, they disposed his body within hours.