Section 141 · Para-135-A

When a body is recovered by the police that is unclaimed and unidentifiable, the police officer conducting the investigation under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall give as wide a publicity as possible about its discovery with a view to identifying the body and to locating relatives, friends, and acquaintances of the deceased to whom the body may be entrusted for the rites. In rural areas, such publicity shall be given by beating drums, and in urban areas, the police may also seek the assistance of the local press, broadcasting stations, if any, and voluntary organizations such as Seva Samitis.
Any police officer conducting an investigation shall, as far as possible, attempt to ascertain the religion to which the deceased belonged so that the disposal (rites), if ultimately necessary, of the body may be conducted in accordance with the customs and traditions of the religion to which the deceased belonged. Keeping this fact in mind, the officer concerned shall, in addition to other investigations, carefully examine the body to see if it bears any distinctive features that may be helpful in establishing its identity and shall make an entry to this effect in the General Diary and the Inquest Report.
If, after due publicity, the body remains unclaimed, the Superintendent of Police of the district shall hand it over to a medical college for the purpose of anatomical examination and dissection to be carried out at its own expense. The officer in charge of such college shall submit a certificate to the Superintendent of Police to the effect that after the examination and dissection, the body has been cremated according to the customs and rites of the religion to which the deceased belonged.