BHOPAL: The body of an accident victim was left on the road for hours on Sunday night as police from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh squabbled over jurisdiction. Even the pleas of the family went unheeded as MP cops allegedly insisted it wasn’t their responsibility.
The accident happened in Chhatarpur district, and MP police eventually took custody of the body and sent it for autopsy.
The victim, 27-year-old Rahul Ahirwar from UP’s Mahoba, was newly married and was on his way to Delhi to take up work as a labourer. He was crossing the highway when an unidentified vehicle struck him around 7pm on Sunday. He died on the spot.
Residents of the area quickly alerted Harpalpur police station in Madhya Pradesh, but when police arrived on the scene, they allegedly claimed that the accident happened in the jurisdiction of Mahobkanth police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district, and left without taking action.
Locals stood at watch near the body, but didn’t move it on their own as they couldn’t tamper with the crime scene. They also informed UP police, who told them they couldn’t do anything as the accident had happened within MP’s borders.
A video — purportedly from the accident site, circulating on social media — shows a relative saying: “My cousin died in an accident, and no one is ready to take responsibility. MP police came and scolded us, saying it’s not their jurisdiction.”
After four hours, MP police finally returned to the site, retrieved the body, and sent it for autopsy.
