Amid the deadly onslaught of Covid-19 across the country, unscrupulous elements have not even spared the kafans (shroud of clothing for wrapping bodies of dead) and other offerings made to the dead before cremation.
The Baghpat police on Sunday busted a gang of seven thieves, including a cloth shop owner and his family members besides others who used to steal kafans and other such clothes from the corpses in the dead of night when even those who perform last rites and the watchmen are asleep after cremating countless victims of the novel coronavirus.
The police have arrested all the seven gang members, including the ring leader and cloth merchant Praveen Kumar Jai. The police recovered 520 kafans, 127 kurtas , 140 white shirts, 34 dhotis, 52 sarees, three packets of ribbon, a tape cutter, and 152 pieces of label/stickers of a Gwalior-based cloth brand from the shop-cum-residence of Jain at Baraut market.
The stolen items were packed neatly with the labels and ribbons and subsequently sold to other unsuspecting cloth merchants.
Prime accused Praveen Jain’s son Ashish Jain, nephew Rishabh Jain, Shravan Sharma, Raju Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, and Bablu Kashyap, all residents of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh.
The police have registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including theft, trespass, public nuisance, spreading an infectious disease, theft in a dwelling or house, forgery and forgery for cheating among others besides provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) relating to lockdown/curfew violations.
According to Hindu traditions and local customs, the relatives and friends of the deceased offer kafans and other clothes to the dead persons before cremation.
Before the bodies are lit on the pyre, these offering are divided among those performing cremation.