Police personnel posted in North Dinajpur are participating in a drill to learn how to recover bodies amid resistance, without showing any disrespect to the deceased.

“Over the past few days, the drill has been conducted in every police station of the district. The idea is to ensure that in case the police face resistance in recovering a body, they should recover it in a proper manner,” said a senior police officer of the district.

The exercise has been initiated because last month, the district police faced flak from various quarters after reportedly dragging away the body of a 17-year-old girl amid resistance from villagers.

The girl’s family and some villagers had alleged that she was raped and murdered and refused to hand over the body to the police.

The police were attacked with bricks and stones. Then, police personnel somehow managed to get hold of the body to take it away for post-mortem. Videos surfaced on social media, sparking outrage that the police dragged away the girl’s body in an “inhuman” manner.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the police should have taken a more “humanitarian approach” in recovering the body. She also instructed that bags and stretchers to carry bodies should be given to each police station so that such situations can be avoided.

Four assistant sub-inspectors, who had taken away the body, were suspended.

“We have received the bags and stretchers. Those have been sent to all police stations in the district. We are now conducting drills so that our personnel get a clear idea as to how they should recover the body properly,” said an officer.

On Wednesday night, policemen were seen performing the drill on Raiganj police station premises under the supervision of senior officers.

“During the drill, one team carried the stretcher and recovered the 'body' packed in a bag. Another team, armed with sticks and shields, guarded them. In sensitive cases, every cop involved in the recovery of a body amid resistance will get safety gear to avoid injury,” said a source.