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Taken by Bengal family, body brought back to Odisha as Aadhaar card found in pocket – Bihar man’s wait for missing brother ends

“We looked for Raja at different hospitals for around three days, but could not find him. We decided to return home as we had run out of money,” said Subash, who works as a mason in Tapri, Himachal Pradesh.

Balasore train accident, Coromandel express accident, Odisha train accident, Odisha train derailment, Shalimar Chennai Coromandel Express derailment, indian express

Subash Sahani, brother of deceased, in Odisha. Image by Sujit Bisoyi

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During an exhausting search for his missing brother, which included 3,000 km of travelling, Subash Sahani from Motihari in Bihar went through the anxiety of not knowing what happened to him, the grief of accepting that he was dead, the frustration of realising his body was taken by another family, and even some relief in finally getting the body back.

Raja, 22, was one of 10 people from Lakhaura village under Motihari block in East Champaran district to have boarded the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express on June 2, the day of the crash. Eight of the 10 survived with minor injuries, and one was confirmed dead soon after the accident. Raja was missing.

Subash spoke to Raja at 4 pm on the day of the accident. The accident happened around 7 pm in Balasore, around 800 km from Motihari. After hearing the news, Subash, his mother Leelabati Devi, and eight others from their village hired a vehicle for Rs 40,000 and headed to Balasore. They reached the next day.

“We looked for Raja at different hospitals for around three days, but could not find him. We decided to return home as we had run out of money,” said Subash, who works as a mason in Tapri, Himachal Pradesh.

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In Patna, Subash informed the Bihar government help desk about his missing brother, but that led nowhere. He again travelled to Odisha with some members of his family, this time to Bhubaneswar, where he got to know that many bodies have been kept at AIIMS.

“From among the photos of the deceased displayed on an LED screen, I recognised Raja, who has a tattoo on his left hand. But officials said that the body had already been claimed by someone from West Bengal,” Subash said.

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Having no idea what to do next, Subash approached a police officer from Bihar who was deputed at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. On the officer’s advice, Subash’s mother gave blood samples for a DNA test. They were asked to wait until the DNA reports came.

On Friday, Raja’s body was brought back to Bhubaneswar from Kakdwip in West Bengal, after the family that had taken the body found Raja’s Aadhaar card in his trousers pocket. “Besides the Aadhaar card, we had already informed the officials about the tattoo on his left hand,” said Subash.

Though Subash’s family has received compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the Railways, he said they have so far not received any assistance from the Bihar government.