Meerut, June 19 -- A contractual sanitation worker was arrested after he was caught on CCTV footage allegedly removing gold earrings from the body of a woman who had just been declared dead in the district hospital's emergency ward, in Badaun district.

The incident took place on Wednesday night when Shahana, a resident of Dataganj, was brought to the district hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Following her death, her body was placed on a stretcher in the emergency ward while the family arranged a vehicle to take her back. Hospital sanitation worker Veeru, who was employed through a private contractor, later assisted in moving the stretcher to the waiting hearse.

It was only after the body had been placed inside the vehicle tha...