Lockdown woes: Bengal migrants travel with co-passenger's dead body for over 20 hours

The passengers sought help from Odisha police at two places but they were reportedly not entertained.

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KOLKATA: A group of 34 stranded migrants and their families, who hired a bus to return to Bengal from Maharashtra, had to travel with the body of one of their co-passengers for over 20 hours.

According to reports, the deceased developed high fever and respiratory problem after the bus entered Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border and within an hour he died.

The passengers sought help from Odisha police at two places but they were reportedly not entertained. The policemen of the neighbouring state allegedly told the migrants to leave the state with the body immediately.

“I was sitting with my two-year-old daughter in front of the seat where the body was lying. Every single minute was like hours. Most of the time, I kept my eyes close. It was nightmarish journey,’’ said Sarmistha Bera, one of the migrants.