A woman from Cuttack district, identified as Gitanjali Datta, is facing consequences after attempting to deceive authorities by falsely claiming her husband's death in the Balasore train accident. The incident involved a train accident on June 2, for which the state government and Railways had announced compensation. Gitanjali Datta had made a claim stating that her husband, Bijay Datta, had died in the accident and had even identified a body as his. However, upon document verification, it was discovered that her claim was unfounded.
After receiving a warning from the police, the situation took a turn for the worse when Gitanjali Datta's husband lodged a complaint at the Maniabandha police station. As a result, the woman has gone into hiding out of fear of being arrested, according to the police.
Police revealed that the couple has been living separately for the last 13 years.
Bijay has urged authorities to take strict action against Gitanjali for her attempt to fraudulently obtain public funds and for falsely claiming his death.
The officer in charge of Maniabanda police station, Basant Kumar Satpathy, informed that the police have advised Gitanjali's husband to file a complaint at Bahanaga police station in Balasore district, as the incident occurred there.
In the meantime, Chief Secretary PK Jena has directed the Railways and Odisha police to take strong measures against individuals who make false claims regarding bodies, emphasizing the need for stringent action.
Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin of the deceased while Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh. On the other hand, the Railway Ministry has declared Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of those who died in the accident.
The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 pm on June 2. In all, some 288 people died in the accident and more than 1,200 were injured.
A few coaches of Coromandel toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.
Inputs from PTI
