HAVERI (
Karnataka): A local journalist who died in an accident was carried to hospital in a garbage van, triggering anger and outrage in his family and the media fraternity.
Mounesh Potharaj, 28, had completed his last assignment as a reporter for a TV channel on Saturday and was to join another media company in
Belagavi in north Karnataka. He was heading home to Gadag when his bike crashed into a tree.
Potharaj died immediately after the accident near Gunduru village in Hanagal taluk. A case was registered at Hangal police station. Police moved his body to the Hangal government hospital in a municipal garbage van. A video of the body being carried went viral and drew widespread condemnation.
Potharaj's parents were construction labourers and he too had worked as a coolie when he was a student. "It's an inhumane act by police, who were supposed to arrange an ambulance or body carrier. But they used a garbage van. We condemn it and will hold a protest soon," said Ningappa Chavadi, president of the Haveri district unit of
Karnataka State Working Journalists Union. Potharaj's uncle, Nagaraj, said, "When we objected to police carrying Mounesh's body in a garbage vehicle, they didn't listen to us. They shouldn't use such vehicles to shift bodies," he said.
Haveri SP K Parashuram said the police had tried to get a private vehicle to carry the body but nothing was available due to the festival rush. "No vehicle is provided to us to shift bodies. Even ambulance won't carry bodies. So we have been shifting bodies using locally available vehicles," Parshuram said. "We usually get vehicles from local authorities, but this time we did not get any. We didn't intend to hurt anyone," he said.
