After days of back and forth, bodies of three Indians from Abu Dhabi were brought back to Delhi and handed over to their families on Monday.
The handing over took place early in the morning at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), ending a five-day ordeal for the families, and allowing them to complete the final rites.
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The mortal remains of the three men, who were expatriate workers in the United Arab Emirates — Kamlesh Bhatt from Uttarakhand, and Jagsir Singh and Sanjeev Kumar from Punjab — had also earlier arrived on April 23, but were sent back by immigration authorities because there weren’t sufficient clearances to admit them into the country.
The case had led to a controversy over government guidelines for the return of bodies during the coronavirus pandemic, as the families pleaded that the bodies should be allowed to remain and not returned to the UAE while permissions were obtained, but to no avail.
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“Finally, we are just relieved that we could bring Kamlesh’s body back and his parents could see their son’s face before his las