Patiala: Residents of Kassiana village, around 10km from district headquarters, where residents have set up a self-isolation naka did not allow the family of a 65-year-old native, Paramjit Singh Dhillon, to cremate his body on Saturday. Villagers feared that he was a covid victim. Dhillon was a resident of a Tricone City on the Patiala-Sirhind Road and had died due to complications arising out of diabetes, his family and police said.

“Dhillon possessed the voter identity card of Kassiana village and his family members wanted to cremate him there. When the villagers objected, we were informed,” Aman Mandi SHO Gurnam Singh said, adding that when they reached Kassian, the family had shifted the body to Hardaspur village, 2km from Kassian, where too the panchayat was not willing to allow the cremation.
“A team from Faggan Majra police station was rushed to Hardaspur village and convinced the panchayat, following which the last rites were performed there,” the SHO added.