Middlemen at crematorium fleecing kin of COVID victims
The Hindu
People allege they are demanding ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 to conduct final rites against the official rate of ₹3,000
With the increase in COVID-19 deaths in the city, private ambulance staff and middlemen are cashing in on the situation. The middlemen have been allegedly charging ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 to conduct the final rites of a person who died of the coronavirus. Family members of the deceased allege that the ambulance staff and the workers at the crematorium at Gnanapuram are working in cahoots. “I lost my maternal uncle a few days ago in a private hospital at Arilova. We approached an ambulance driver to shift the body to crematorium. He seems to have a link with the hospital and the workers at the crematorium. He has offered a package of ₹20,000 for everything, right from shifting the body to performing rites. As we bargained, he agreed to do it for ₹18,000. He did not even offer a PPE kit,” said B.J. Venkata Mahesh, a resident of Murali Nagar area.More Related News