Ghazipur /Ballia, May 12 (IANS): All the bodies recovered from the Ganga river in Ghazipur and Ballia districts were cremated and investigations have been initiated to find out where the bodies had been immersed in the river.

Ballia district Magistrate Aditi Singh said that Sub-divisional Magistrate Sadar and Circle Officer Sadar spearheaded a search operation on reports of decayed bodies piling under Ballia-Buxar bridge in the Ganga under Narahi police station area.

The official, however, did not reveal the exact number of bodies found.

The bodies were found floating on the river on Monday evening and officials found decayed dead bodies in large numbers near Ujiyar and Bharauli under Narahi police station of Ballia.

Joint search drives were conducted by officials of Ballia and Ghazipur districts in the Ganga and its tributaries, including Karmnasha, when locals alerted the administration about a number of bodies seen floating on the river.

Officials in Buxar, Bihar, on Monday, claimed that the bodies floating in river Ganga were coming from UP.

During inspection, seven bodies were spotted in river Karmnasha before its confluence in Ganga on Ghazipur-Buxar border.

District Magistrate Ghazipur M P Singh said, "All the bodies are heavily decayed and are suspected to have been disposed of days ago. It is difficult to trace from where bodies were disposed of in rivers, but we have asked police to find out whether villagers of our district are doing so."