'Dead man' returns to stop cremation

Raipur, Mar 7 (UNI) It was a mixture of shock and awe for a family that was accosted by its member who had been given up for dead and ''taken'' for cremation.

A strange sequence of events began yesterday after the police fished out a body floating in the local Buda Talab, the Chhattisgarh capital's largest reservoir. During an inquiry, a few persons identified the corpse as Tikrapara-resident Deepak Bhattacharya whose brother-in-law Kalyan and neighbours confirmed it.

The family was informed and the body sent for post mortem by the police. Later, the funeral procession started from the Bhattacharya abode and the deceased's colleagues were also alerted.

The colleagues were struck dumb with surprise to learn about the time of finding of the corpse as Mr Bhattacharya had just left office to pay an electricity bill. They dialled his cellphone number and spoke to him! Mr Bhattacharya rushed home and joy returned to the household. He then sped off to the cremation ground where the body was about to be cremated. ''I am alive! Whom are you burning?'' he shouted.

The police rushed to the cremation ground, took possession of the corpse and sent it to a mortuary.

''I admit I made a mistake but the body bore a startling resemblance to Deepak,'' said Mr Kalyan.

UNI