Bihar Man Claimed His Mother Died In Balasore Train Accident To Get Compensation, Arrested

Railway authorities have apprehended a man for allegedly faking the death of his mother in the triple-train crash in Odisha's Balasore region last week to claim compensation.

According to reports, the accused, identified as Sanjay Kumar, a native of Patna, tried to meet railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and also visited the Rail Bhawan to seek a job as compensation, claiming that his mother died in the Balasore train tragedy last week.

AFP

Mother passed away in 2018

He had claimed that his mother was a passenger on the Coromandel Express but failed to produce documents, including the ticket details, when sought by the authorities.

While he gave the authorities a photo of his mother, they failed to identify her face among the passengers, after which they grew suspicious.

On detailed interrogation, Kumar admitted that his mother had passed away in 2018, but after the Railway minister announced the compensation for the kin of Balasore victims, he tried to exploit it and get a government job.

Woman fakes husband's death

This is the second fake death claim that has surfaced since last week's tragic accident.

AFP

Earlier, Gitanjali Dutta, a woman from Baramba area in Odisha's Cuttack district, had tried to claim the victim compensation stating that her husband, Bijay Dutta, had died in the accident.

According to the authorities, the woman came to one of the temporary morgues at the North Orissa Chamber of Commerce & Industry Business Park in Balasore and identified one of the bodies there as her husband's.

She also produced an Aadhaar card with the name of one Bijay Dutta to stake her claim.

AP

But when the authorities contacted the Baramba police, they were told that her husband was alive.

According to the police, the couple had been separated for 13 years, and the woman was falsely trying to claim the compensation amount.

While she was reprimanded and let go, after the incident, the estranged husband filed a complaint against her.

82 bodies still unidentified

Even after a week since the tragic accident, over 80 bodies are lying unidentified in AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

REUTERS

Most of these bodies have been mutilated beyond recognition, and authorities are depending on DNA tests as multiple families are claiming some bodies.

"We have collected about 50 DNA samples. In the first batch, 29 samples were sent to AIIMS Delhi, and its test reports are expected within two more days. Once the DNA report reaches her, we can give some of these bodies to their rightful family," an official of AIIMS Bhubaneswar said.

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