Woman’s fake claim on Odisha train accident body sends alarm bells ringing

BHUBANESWAR: As several of the dead in the Bahanaga train tragedy continues to remain unidentified, a woman's futile and fraudulent attempt of claiming one of the bodies as her husband on Sunday has prompted the Odisha government to sound an alarm.
Chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena on Monday asked the railways and Odisha police to take action against such fake claimants, who may resort to fraudulent tactics to claim compensation. “All should be very careful in this regard and take prompt as well as stern action in such cases,” Jena tweeted on Monday by tagging the Odisha DGP, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and railway ministry.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced Rs 5 lakh exgratia for the next of kin of the deceased (only from Odisha). The Prime Minister’s Office announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased whereas the railway ministry said the families of those who died in the train accident would receive a compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh.
On Sunday, a 40-year-old woman who identified herself as Gitanjali Dutta from Baramba area in Odisha’s Cuttack district, turned up at a temporary morgue at the North Orissa Chamber of Commerce & Industry Business Park in Balasore where police personnel were busy verifying documents of several claimants of bodies.
“I suspected her intention as she looked unusually calm unlike the bereaved kin of the other deceased passengers. She saw some of the photographs of the unidentified bodies that we had displayed outside the temporary morgue. She picked up one photo and claimed him to be her husband,” said Bikas Kumar Palei, a sub-inspector of Odisha police.
When the woman was asked to show documents to prove him as her husband, she produced an Aadhaar card that carried the name of one Bijay Dutta. Then she showed her own Aadhaar.
“We tried to verify her claim by contacting the Baramba police under whose area she stays. Baramba police reverted after an hour and informed us that her husband is alive. She started running when we reprimanded her and warned her of arrest. Her intention was to claim the compensation. We were surrounded by many mourners. Since our immediate priority was to facilitate the identification of bodies, we did not get time to chase her,” Palei said.