Kerala: Sanitation worker's body found after two days

Thiruvananthapuram, July 15 (IANS) The body of a sanitation worker, who went missing two days ago while cleaning a canal near the main railway station here, was fished out by the rescue team on Monday.

After the police and Fire Force officials got a message about a body floating in the canal about a kilometre from where Joy went missing, soon the authorities and colleagues of Joy reached the spot.

The deceased was identified as 46-year-old M. Joy, who was employed by a contractor of the Railways.

Hearing the news on the television about the body of Joy being identified, his aged mother broke into tears and was seen wailing.

A manhunt began on Saturday morning when Joy and three other workers were engaged in cleaning a canal near the railway station.

Following heavy rains, when the flow of water in the canal increased, three other workers came out of the canal, but Joy got stuck and was taken away by the flowing waters.

Soon, a team of scuba drivers and experts from the NDRF and the Indian Navy launched search operations but despite their best efforts, Joy could not be traced.

Since Joy went missing, a blame game began with the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation being blamed from all quarters for not doing the job of cleaning the waste from the canals.

However, the Corporation which is ruled by the CPI-M, charged that Railway was responsible for the incident and they have been served a notice to see that they have to clean the waste which has been generated by them.

Principal opposition BJP and Congress also claimed the inefficiency of the ruling party to effectively engage in cleaning operations and alleged that funds meant for it are all siphoned off, with hardly any cleaning done.

The body has now been taken to the Medical College hospital here for autopsy.

–IANS

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