India, Dec. 11 -- Locals in Patna district threw carcass back into the river out of fear even as officials failed to reach spot in time

The carcass of a Gangetic dolphin was disposed in the Ganga without ascertaining the reason of death of the marine mammal that is supposed to be highly protected.

"If a dead Schedule I animal like a Gangetic dolphin is found, it is the duty of the forest department to take possession of the carcass for conducting a post mortem examination to find out the cause of death," Gopal Sharma, regional head of the Zoological Survey of India, Bihar and Jharkhand, told this reporter.

The carcass was found floating at Umanath Ghat on the Ganga in the Barh subdivision of Bihar's Patna district by fishers December 1...