The discovery of a human skeleton sealed in a gunny bag and dumped in the riverbed sparked a sensation at a village in Bankura this morning.
The villagers noticed the sealed bag lying abandoned in the Dwarakeswar riverbed and were curious to see what was inside. “When we were trying to open it, some bones came out and we made no delay to inform the police,” said Swaraj Malik, a resident of Napukur village in Indas Police Station area.
The bag, according to the police, had been dumped in the riverbed and some stray dogs were trying to drag it out, which drew the attention of some passengers waiting for ferry services at Samroghata ferry terminal adjacent to Napukur village.
After the police opened the bag, a folded human skeleton was found inside.
The police seized the skeleton and shifted it to the Bankura Sammiloni Medical College and Hospital for forensic examination. The local villagers, meanwhile, suspected that the skeleton was unearthed from a graveyard by miscreants linked to a skeleton trafficking racket.
Bablu Ghosh, a villager, said: “A few years ago some outsiders were caught in neighbouring Roll village while trying to steal a skeleton by excavating a grave in a graveyard.”
The police have begun a probe, the superintendent of Police, Bankura, Mr Koteswar Rao said.