Efforts to bring back the body of Una from Saudi Arabia after the announcement: Himachal Pradesh CM

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said in the assembly on Saturday that efforts were being made to retrieve the body of a Hindu man from Himachal Pradesh who was wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on the last day of the budget session, Mr. Thakur said that the state government took up the matter with the Center and the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia after it was raised in the House on 16 March.

The Chief Minister said that he had personally spoken to the External Affairs Minister as well.

Taking up the matter in the Legislative Assembly, Una MLA Satpal Singh Raizada said that Sanjeev Kumar Sharma died of cardiac arrest on 24 January in Saudi Arabia, where he had been working for three years. His mortal remains were buried “due to a mistake made by the official translator of the Indian consulate, Jeddah, who wrongly described his religion as ‘Muslim’ in the death certificate.”

Mr. Thakur said that the Consulate General of India in Jeddah informed via an e-mail that “We have taken up the matter with the local Foreign Office, Governor’s Office, Jijan and other local authorities. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma as soon as possible. “It states that the consulate officials are on a visit to the governor, with jizans to expedite the number of mortal remains.”

The e-mail further stated that the Consulate General had also taken up the matter with the local foreign office so that Sharma’s sponsor could also be directed to the authorities concerned to investigate the circumstances leading to the burial without any notice.