Skulls, bones found in lakebed

Bangalore, June 7: Residents of Venkatagirikote, a small village off NH 7 near Bengaluru International Airport were astounded to find as many as six human skulls and other skeletal remains in a plastic bag abandoned close to a lake on Wednesday morning.

With the Annigeri incident still fresh in memory, Venkatagirikote soon became the centre of attention with regional and some national television channels descending on the village.

Naveen Kumar, 27, a fisherman told Deccan Herald that some village boys found an abandoned plastic bag on the lake bed on Wednesday.

“They poured the contents out to use the bag to carry fish to a nearby market. But they were shocked to see human skulls and skeletal remains tumble out of it. They fled the scene and alerted us. We rushed to the spot to see the bag and the skeletal remains,” he said.

Vijayapura police too rushed to the spot and searched the area for any other remains or clues and seized the skeletal remains. According to the police, there were six human skulls and 12 pairs of femur bones and limb bones. The bones were tied together with pieces of a saree.

C Pillappa, another fisherman, told Deccan Herald that English letters were written on the skulls and each of the bones of the limbs were tied together in pairs. Police too confirmed this.

Sandeep Kavri, Sub-inspector Vijayapura, said that the skulls were initialled for identification. The six skulls were named A, K, I , F, B and G. The skeletal remains might belong to some medical college and the college staff might have disposed it of on the lake bed, said the police.

They said that only skulls and femur bones being found and they being initialed for identification gave credence to the theory. Some marks of surgery on the skulls indicate that they have undergone autopsy. They have also been numbered.

Some skeletal remains were also found burnt using firewood about 20 feet away from the spot. The bones being tied together with pieces of saree have also raised suspicion of black magic. The police too do not rule out the possibility of the skeletal remains being stolen from some medical college by those who practice black magic.

After the police did a survey of the area and seized all skeletal remains, the residents of the village found a few more femur bones and a jaw near the spot where skeletal remains were burnt.

Vijayapura Police have handed over the skeletal remains to the Devanahalli Government Hospital for medical opinion. Kavri told Deccan Herald that once the medical officer gave his opinion they would send the remains to the forensic lab for further examination.