SHILLONG, Oct 14 - Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday said the state government was putting in all efforts to bring back the mortal remains of Archbishop (Shillong) Dominic Jala who died in the US.
Archbishop Jala, 68, died in a car crash along with another priest at Colusa county in Oakland, California, on Friday. In that accident, another priest sustained injuries.
The Chief Minister said that after hearing about the accident, he called up Sanjay Panda, India�s Consulate General in San Francisco. �He was very supportive and explained the whole procedure. The government and the consulate are fully supportive in connecting with the hospitals and assisting in getting the death certificate and subsequent transportation,� Sangma said on the sidelines of a programme here.
The Chief Minister said that according to the Consulate General, it takes anything between 3-5 days after such an accident to complete the documentation work before the body is handed over.
In all likelihood, the mortal remains would not arrive before Thursday. �We have not got the latest report yet. Today, I will again contact (the officials in US) and we should be able to get a better picture. But I think it will still take a day or two more,� Sangma said.
Sangma said he was personally monitoring and was in constant touch with the Consulate in San Francisco as well as the offices in Delhi to do whatever possible to expeditiously bring back the mortal remains of the Archbishop.
