Srikakulam incident a sporadic case, Andhra govt suspended officials involved: Amar Devulapalli

Advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government on national media and inter-state affairs, Amar Devulapalli, on Saturday said that the Srikakulam incident, where a 70-year-old COVID-19 patient's body was carried to the graveyard on a JCB earth mover, is a sporadic case and the government has acted by suspending the municipality officials who were involved in it.

"When the Chief Minister's Office got the information about this case, immediately they instructed the District Collector (DC) J Nivas to take action against the persons responsible for the indecent burial of a senior citizen in the area," Devulapalli told .

The incident took place in Palasa municipality in Srikakulam district on Friday.

"So, the DC suspended the Palasa Municipal Commissioner T Nagendra Kumar and Stary Inspector N Rajeev immediately. Unfortunately, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted about the incident as if this is the fault of the government. This is a sporadic incident and the government has acted on it," Devulapalli said.

Naidu had condemned the incident and tweeted, "Utterly shocked to see the deceased bodies of coronavirus victims wrapped in plastic and transported on JCBs and tractors. They deserve respect and dignity even in death. Shame on YS Jagan government for this inhumane treatment of the mortal remains."

Devulapalli further said that the officials had informed the family of the deceased person that he was COVID-19 positive.

"The officials informed the deceased person's family that he was COVID-19 positive. The man's family has 16 members in the house. The family members, villagers and friends left the body in the middle of the road and ran away. The municipality employees orgsed a JCB earth mover and got the body buried in the graveyard."

( With inputs from ANI )