Agartala, Jan 14 (IANS): Budget airliner IndiGo in association with Delhi Police has launched a scheme to carry bodies of underprivileged residents of northeast India, who die in the national capital, to their homes free of cost.

An IndiGo release said here on Saturday that "Aakhiri Ahuti" is a humanitarian initiative to ferry the human remains of the deceased belonging to the northeastern states.

"There were several incidents in which people from northeastern states residing in Delhi died. They were buried or cremated in Delhi without their kith or kin being present. Due to financial constraints, relatives of the deceased were unable to take the body back to their native place," the release said.

It said that "Aakhiri Ahuti" was launched on Thursday.

"Only on the recommendations from the northeast unit of Delhi Police, IndiGo would ferry the human remains on a case to case basis."

"Over 12 lakh people belonging to different northeastern states are working in different sectors like BPOs, malls, private companies, hospitals, hotels and restaurants and as security guards.

"Ferrying human remains from Delhi to the northeast by air is a costly affair. For the underprivileged people from the northeast region, this service is a great relief from both financial and emotional point of views," the release said quoting Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police Robin Hibu.

It also quoted whole time director of IndiGo Aditya Ghosh as saying the IndiGo family was honoured to co-partner with Delhi Police to take the underprivileged domiciles of northeastern states back on their final journey.

The Gurgaon-based airline launched its service to the northeast region in 2004.

IndiGo currently flies to five cities in the northeast from Delhi. The cities include Agartala (Tripura), Guwahati and Dibrugarh (both Assam), Chabwa (Nagaland) and Imphal (Manipur).