Failure of forensic department; Release of Arjun's mortal remains may delay

BENGALURU: After a long search in Shirur, the DNA results of Arjun's dead body found at the bottom of the Gangavali River may not be available today. Hence, there may be a delay in handing over the remains to the family. The failure of the hospital's forensic department led to the delay in getting the sample to the lab.

Arjun's brother Abhijith's DNA sample has been collected and prepared for comparison. Arjun's femur and a part of his chest rib were sent. The district administration has decided to hand over the remains of the body to the relatives only the two DNA matches.

Lorry owner Manaf and his team returned home last night. Arjun's brother-in-law Jithin and brother Abhijith will accompany the body in the ambulance. The Kerala government has assured to bear all the expenses of the ambulance provided by the district administration. The body will be taken to Kozhikode under the security of the Karnataka Police.

Remains of the lorry were found on the 71st day after Arjun went missing. The metal part was brought closer to the shore by a dredger. The body was found in a decomposed state as expected. After bringing the body to the shore in SDRF boat, it was shifted to the hospital.

On July 16, Arjun, a native of Kandyankal, Kozhikode, went missing in a landslide in Karnataka. Even though the search was often uncertain due to unfavorable weather, the family was hopeful that Arjun would be found in the dredger search. That hope has now come to a sad end.

Ten people including Arjun died in the accident. Seven dead bodies were found in the river. Arjun went on July 8 with the lorry of Manaf, a native of Mukkam, to bring wood from Karnataka. The last call was on 16th. The news that Arjun was missing came to be known when Bharat Benz Company informed the owner of the lorry that the GPS presence of the lorry was at the disaster site.