Lucknow: The Akhilesh government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered a probe after the number of unclaimed bodies found floating in the Ganga River in Unnao district, reached 104, even as a dozen more bodies were found on Wednesday in Jhansi district in Betwa River.

Sources said that a dozen bodies in various stages of decomposition had been seen in the river but no official reached the spot even after being informed.

Officials in Lucknow also feigned complete ignorance about the recovery of bodies in Jhansi but admitted that the number of bodies found in Unnao district was “over 100”.

Officials also denied having any knowledge about the Centre seeking a report on the incident.

Thirty bodies had been recovered from the Pariyar Ghat in Safipur in Unnao district till late on Tuesday night but the number rose to 104 by Wednesday morning.

The district administration used JCB machines to fish out the decomposed bodies from the river bed and the local people and the BJP staged a protest at this. The bodies were buried into a huge pit dug on the banks of the Ganga.

IG (law and order) Satish Ganesh said that the decision for mass burial of bodies had been taken after reaching consensus with the local people and religious heads.

He said that DNA sampling of 80 bodies had been done but the rest are highly-decomposed.

Kanpur IG Ashutosh Pandey said families who cannot afford cremation as per Hindu traditions dump them in the river.