Delhi riots: Civic agencies will help police hunt for bodies in drains

After three more dead bodies were recovered on Friday from drains in northeast Delhi where riots broke out on Monday and Tuesday, Delhi Police have roped in civic agencies to check the worst --- finding more bodies in the drains of north east Delhi.

Over the last three days, police have found bodies of six persons, who died in the rioting, in the clogged drains of north east Delhi. One of the bodies was that of intelligence bureau officer, Ankit Sharma.

Sharma's body was the first to be found in a drain on Wednesday. Residents of Chand Bagh and Gokalpuri area through which the drain passes and the bodies were found said that in most cases, the victims were first murdered and their bodies thrown in the drain.

The city police have roped in divers and experts from civic agencies. They are scanning the waters of the drain for more bodies.

Police said the drains here are full of debris and garbage. Officers said they need to check the bottom of the drains to see if more people were killed and thrown into the drains. Delhi fire service have also been informed as the IB official's body was pulled out from the drain with the help of fire officers. Locals are fear that more bodies can be fished out from drains that run parallel to almost every riot-affected area site.

Locals said there are four major "open drains" in the riot-affected parts of northeast Delhi where miscreants may have dumped bodies, east civic body officials said. These belong to both the Delhi government's Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC) and the BJP-ruled east municipality. "The most dangerous, where most bodies have been found we believe, is the Biharipur drain which originates near the Bhagirath Vihar Water Treatment Plant (WTP), goes around Chand Bagh, and falls into the huge Drain Number 1. This is about 4 km in length and belongs to I&FC," said a senior EDMC official who declined to be named.

"The other super drain in the area, which belongs to I&FC, is Drain Number 1 that comes from Saboli in Uttar Pradesh, runs along Road No. 66 in Jafrabad, and goes to Noida (UP). Two smaller drains here, which belong to us (EDMC), are Gokulpur Drain and Babarpur Drain," he said.

Officials said they believe the bodies may not have floated to the Uttar Pradesh because of the heavy siltation and lack of turbulent flow."

On Friday evening, while Delhi police officers were conducting flag marches in the bylanes of north east Delhi to restore peace, a group of divers along with police were returning from one the drains after a search operation. Their search will again resume on Saturday. They do not want to come across any more dead body in the bottom of the drain.