Forensic experts to determine Lalbagh skeleton age

Lalbagh, Feb 01 (UNI) Amid speculations and stories of bygone era, a CID team reached the pond site on the periphery of the Lalbagh sub-correctional jail collecting samples and examining to give a conclusive end to the skeleton remains here.

The three-member CID team reached here last evening and immediately went to the police station where 28 skull pieces and 50 skeleton remains were examined and samples taken. Thereafter, the team visited the spot and closely examined the area.

The team was led by CID Special Superintendent, North, Nabarun Bhattacharjee and was assisted by Forensic Science Laboratory Assistant Director A.K.Ghosh and Scientific Assistant Ms K Mandal.

After examining the spot, Mr Bhattacharjee said, " We have seen the exhumed skeleton pieces and also seen the area and the land records. But, a final verdict of the date to which the skeletons belong can be ascertained. " Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastava told UNI, ''28 skull pieces and 50 bones were recovered from the area which lead to three possibilities.'' The local government doctor said the bones could be hundreds of years old but the presence of a large stock of limestone from the area could mean that the bones were meant to decompose fast, Mr Srivastava said.

'' In that case it could be 50-year-old or even 10-15-year-old, but there is no recorded evidence of any big crime in the past 20 years which will prompt a thorough police inquiry. '' Meanwhile, Municipality chairman Mehedi Alalm Mirza said the land records show no registered graveyard in the region from where the skeletons had been unearthed.

Congress Adhir Chowdhury said this was a serious matter as it had never happened in Murshidabad and demanded a CBI inquiry.

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UNI