KEY POINTS:
Eastern Bay of Plenty police would refuse to exhume James Takamore's body if asked to enforce the exhumation permit obtained by his partner, a police source says.
Mr Takamore was buried at Kutarere, southwest of Opotiki, after his body was taken from Christchurch by his Bay of Plenty whanau against the wishes of partner Denise Clarke.
The source said officers in the eastern Bay would refuse to exhume his remains because they did not want to be "the meat in the sandwich. At the end of the day, most of us would actually refuse on cultural grounds".
The source believed the whanau had acted improperly by taking the body from Christchurch, but said the burial at Kutarere was based on centuries-old cultural custom and that was "a fair enough argument".
Police had good relationships with local Maori and if police bosses ordered the exhumation, officers would have to be brought in not just from outside the region, but from far outside it.
"Whoever does it is going to have a battle on their hands," the source said. "The way the family are talking, they're prepared to do anything to leave him there."
