To identify bodies, DNA samples of 36 missing Samej villagers’ kin taken

Shimla, August 5

The DNA samples of the relatives of 36 missing persons of cloudburst-hit Samej village near Rampur in Shimla district have been taken to identify bodies being found during the ongoing search operations. The DNA samples of 37 persons have been taken so far.

According to a government spokesperson, five bodies expected to be of Samej flashflood victims have been recovered so far. The postmortems on all bodies have been done and DNA samples sent to the forensic lab at Junga, near Shimla.

Today, two bodies were recovered from near a dam in Sunni. While one body was of a girl aged 14 to 17 years, the other found in a disfigured condition was of a man. On Sunday evening, two bodies were recovered from near Rampur from the Sutlej.

“Bodies are being found in a mutilated condition, making identification difficult. That’s why we have decided to go for DNA matching,” said Anupam Kashyap, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla.

Meanwhile, eight LNT machines were deployed in the search operation that continued for the fifth consecutive day. The help of sniffer dogs, life detector devices and local people was also being taken in the operation.

In Samej, a temporary bridge was constructed by connecting electric poles to initiate the search operation on the other side of the nullah.

Kashyap appealed to people not to provide any financial help through messages on social media in the name of the Samej tragedy. “Willing donors can contribute to the CM’s Disaster Relief Fund or through the office of the SDM, Rampur,” he said. — TNS