Building Construction Minister in the government of Bihar Ashok Chaudhary on Sunday said that media is projecting the issue of skeletons found near Muzaffarpur hospital in a way different from reality.
Chaudhary said, "Sometimes bodies have no claimants so the government gives Rs 2,000 to the postmortem department to burn the bodies, which they don't do many times. A probe will reveal the truth behind this and media is projecting it differently."
Hundreds of skeletal remains have been discovered lying in open, in a forest near the government-run Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur.
One or two of the dead bodies were found charred and hundreds of skeletons were found strewn on the ground or stuffed into sacks in the forest area.
"When a hospital receives any dead body, it has to immediately contact the nearest police station and file a report in this connection. The corpse has to be kept in the postmortem room for 72 hours after the report has been filed. If no family member arrives for identification of the body within 72 hours, it is the duty of the postmortem department to bury or burn the body following the stipulated procedure," SKMCH Superintendent Sunil Kumar Shahi said.
SKMCH is currently battling with an influx of cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). The death toll due to the vector-borne disease mounted to 129 on Sunday.