Councillor smells an ashes scam

█  Allegations of civic employee seeking bribes from relatives of dead at crematorium surface

Jamalpur councillor Shahnawaz Shaikh alleges AMC staffer seeks bribe to scatter ashes in Ganga despite ban on it

A Congress councillor has alleged a huge scam at the Jamalpur crematorium in the name of collecting ashes of the departed soul to be dispersed in the Ganga. In a letter to the municipal commissioner, Jamalpur Councillor Shahnawaz Shaikh has said that at the AMC-run Jamalpur crematorium, an employee of the civic body has been fleecing relatives of the dead. In the name of collecting ashes to be dispersed in the holy Ganga river, he has been indulging in corrupt practice by seeking bribes ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 per urn of ashes.

Despite the government banning the dispersal of ashes in the Ganga since 2008, the civic employee at the crematorium has been cheating the relatives of the dead in the name of faith and has collected lakhs of rupees, Shaikh alleges.

AMC should conduct an impartial vigilance inquiry into the illegal activity that exploits people's faith and take legal action under the various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The guilty should be suspended by the civic body, he said.

Talking to Mirror, Shaikh said, "On one hand, people are battling the contagious coronavirus, while on the other an AMC employee has been seeking between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 in the name of dispersing the ashes of the departed in the Ganga."

No one can seek money from the grieving relatives of the dead. This is corruption and a scam has been going on by misusing the faith and lakhs of rupees collected, the councillor alleged.


Shaikh has also sent the video of the illegal activity that went viral to the civic chief.

Bhavin Joshi, additional health officer in the AMC who handles the birth and death department, said, "AMC does not officially take any money in this regard. I have come to know about it through Shahnawazbhai. And we will carry out an inquiry in this regard."