Two bodies in two cars emerge from Ganges canal in India after desilting

Bodies were reportedly recovered during desilting of the canal when flow of water was stopped

Screengrab from a video of a car being pulled out of the Ganges canal in India’s Uttar Pradesh state (Alok Pandey/Twitter)

Two bodies were reportedly recovered from two cars that emerged from the water after a Ganges canal in Muzaffarnagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was desilted.

Police say that the bodies have been identified through documents found on them and an investigation has been launched.

The desilting process began on Monday and the bodies emerged when the water was briefly stopped. Desilting is the removal of fine silt and sediment that has collected in a river to restore its natural capacity.

The first body has been identified as that of 27-year-old Dilshad Ansari, who had been missing since January. Police officer Vinay Gautam told The Hindu that the deceased was identified from the driving licence found in his pocket and the police is investigating if there was any foul play.

Police said that according to preliminary information, Mr Ansari had borrowed the car from a friend.

Mr Ansari’s father alleged his son was murdered by one of his friends. He told The Times of India that one of Mr Ansari’s friends had sent him to pick up some passengers from the airport in the national capital of Delhi, but he never returned.

The other corpse was found in a car about 55 kilometres from the spot where Mr Ansari’s body was found. It has been identified as that of Harendra Dutt Atre, who had been missing since February.

Police officer Himanshu Gaurav told NDTV that the family was informed after the body was identified. He said that an investigation is underway and action will be taken based on it.