During cleaning work at one of the properties of the Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port, Kolkata, workers have found human skeletal remains from the roof of the dilapidated structure at Strand Road along the banks of the Hooghly River.

With the monsoon bringing heavy showers for the past few days, rainwater had accumulated in the property. The Kolkata Port spokesperson shared that some bones were discovered on the roof of an old pump house opposite the port headquarters. It was learned that workers of an authorized contractor of the Kolkata Port, M/s Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd, were cleaning the property when it was found.

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The Kolkata Port said that the agency concerned is responsible for carrying out renovation work of the port headquarters. The said structure that sits on 15/1 Strand Road has been in an abandoned condition for the past 20 years. However, today, while the workers were restoring the building for keeping construction material, they came across these bones.

Port authorities said that the matter was reported to the police. Officers of the North Port Police Station arrived at the spot and carried out a detailed inspection of the site and subsequently collected the bones which have been sent for autopsy. The homicide wing of the Kolkata Police detective department too reached the spot to take details of the matter from both eyewitnesses and even spoke to some port officials, sources said.

It was learned that the skeletal remains have been carried to the police morgue for examination. Police sources said it is only after the autopsy that further actions will be taken. The police will start its probe as to where it came from and to who it belonged.

Sources remarked that probable angles that the police will look into include whether the body was brought there and dumped or did any incident take place on the said spot.

Locals said there are several such abandoned warehouses along the banks of the Hooghly River that belong to either the Port or companies which have shut down over the years. “It isn’t unusual to find such remains inside these structures. At night anyone can slip inside and no one would notice” a local said.