Relatives accept bodies at Sassoon, say they will perform last rites at agitation spot

Fearing a backlash from grieving relatives who had come to take the bodies of those killed in Tuesday's mayhem at Talegaon, the police last morning cordoned off Sassoon General Hospital and went in for heavy bandobast. Around 100 policemen, 20 of them armed with rifles, were deployed around noon as the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.


Behind the farmers: BJP activists stage a demonstration before the
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Dean of Sassoon Dr Ajay Chandan Wale refused to disclose anything about the deaths. "The post-mortem report is very confidential and we cannot disclose anything," said Chandan. Dr DG Kulkarni, head of the forensic department at Sassoon, also maintained a stoic silence. Only some parts of the post-mortem report were shared, and these stated that all three deaths were due to firearm injuries.
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Kanta Ankuj Thakar died because of haemorrhage and Moreshwar Sathe and Shamrao Waghu Tupe because of an injury to the neck vessel. Sources at Sassoon also said the bullets had hit the chest of Thakar and the neck of Sathe and Tupe. Thakar's brother-in-law, who was present at Sassoon to take the body, said: "Initially, we were not ready to accept the body, but since 24 hours have passed since the death, we thought we would take it for the final rites.