A couple from the neighbouring Thane district have been arrested for allegedly and fraudulently taking away the body of a blast victim and pocketing Rs 1 lakh compensation allotted by the Maharashtra government to the families of the victims, police said on Tuesday.
Sagar Vyapari (30) and his wife Sangeeta (27) allegedly had visited Cooper Hospital in suburban Vile Parle on July 12, a day after the Mumbai serial train blasts and claimed the body of one Jitendra Gandhi (60), who had died in the Jogeswari blasts, police said.
Vyapari allegedly told police and hospital authorities that the body was that of his father Sunil Thakur Vypari (50) and took custody of it after furnishing necessary documents.
The couple, residents of Thane, later cremated the body at Oshiwara crematorium and subsequently took away Rs 1 lakh compensation from the Collector's office, police added.
Officials of Andheri police station have booked the couple on charges of fraud and cheating, police said.
Additional Police Commissioner (Western region) Bipin Bihari said the case came to light after relatives of Gandhi were frantically searching the hospitals for him. A subsequent scrutiny revealed that the body claimed by Vyapari was that of Gandhi, he said.
Sources said that Gandhi, a resident of suburban Borivali, was killed in a blast in the first class compartment of a suburban train at Jogeshwari station.
{{/usCountry}}Sources said that Gandhi, a resident of suburban Borivali, was killed in a blast in the first class compartment of a suburban train at Jogeshwari station.
{{/usCountry}}Nearly 200 people died while over 700 were injured in seven serial train blasts abroad suburban trains on western railway lines on July 11.