Railway police to display photos of unclaimed bodies on March 21

PUNE: It's an exhibition of a different kind. On display will be photographs of people who died under mysterious circumstances, their bodies cremated after no one came forward to identify them.
To be organised by the Government Railway Police (GRP), Pune, on March 21 at six police stations, the exhibition will display photos of 227 unidentified people to help families identify them.
Case details of unknown bodies found in the last five years on the railway premises at Pune, Daund, Kurudwadi, Solapur, Miraj and Ahmednagar will also be put up.
Speaking to TOI, superintendent of police Abdur Rahman (railways) on Saturday said, "Every year, a large number of people die on the railway premises either due to suicide, of natural causes in train compartments or after being run over when crossing the tracks. Many of these bodies are unclaimed.
"The initiative has been taken on humanitarian grounds and will help families identity their near and dear ones. The move will also help us get more information about the persons," Rahman added.
Inspector Mahendra Rokade said that this is the first time such an exhibition is being held in the city. He said a pandal would be put up outside the Pune railway station and continuous announcements would be made on a loudspeaker, appealing to the public to visit the exhibition and help in identifying the persons in the photographs.
"We will put up posters with the photographs of unclaimed bodies at all the railway stations between Pune
and Lonavla. The posters will also be displayed at small railway stations like Ghorpadi, Hadapsar, Manjari Budruck, Loni Kalbhor and Urali Kanchan," Rokade said.
After the exhibition, the public can still see the photographs at the police stations, Rokade said, adding that the photographs would be circulated in all police stations in Pune district.
Senior inspector Atmacharan Shinde of the GRP office, Pune, said that unclaimed bodies are kept at the Sassoon general hospital for three days and if they are not claimed, then the state bears the funeral expenses.