STRUCK BY TRAGEDY, MORTAL REMAINS OF DELHI-BASED WOMAN INTERCHANGED

The Amarnath tragedy turned out to be a shocking affair for a Delhi-based family on Saturday due to a case of misplaced identity, leading to a delay in the funeral process. G Block resident textile trader Mohanlal Wadhwa, his wife Sunita Rani Wadhwa and the couple’s relatives including retired CI Sushil Khatri, who was in-charge of the traffic police station, had decided to go on the annual pilgrimage that returned after a span of 2 years post Covid-19 pandemic, but the visit turned deadly due to cloudburst.

The mortal of the three people were airlifted from Srinagar to New Delhi. However, when Wadhwa’s relatives saw the mortal remains at Delhi airport late on Saturday night, the body of another woman came out in place of Sunita Wadhwa, causing a stir in the family.

Family members said that the woman who was brought to Delhi airport turned out to be a woman from Maharashtra. In such a situation, the family members raised their objection before the Jammu and Kashmir government officer Uday Pandit and the Rajasthan government’s protocol officer Manoj Singh. This caused panic among the officers.

Raju Chhabra, close to the Wadhwa family and former secretary of New Cloth Market, said that the officials in Srinagar have identified the dead body and tried to pacify the relatives through video calling. However, this has led to a delay in the process of the funeral of the Wadhwa couple. The body of Mohanlal Wadhwa has been kept at Delhi airport itself, whereas CI Sushil Khatri’s last rites were performed at Padampur Road, Kalyan Bhoomi, at 11 am on Sunday.

It is to be noted that these three dead bodies were brought to Delhi by the Central Government during the Amarnath Yatra.