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Human skulls, bones found in Siliguri eatery

Siliguri: The police seized 70 human skulls and 19 femur bones stored in two gunny bags from an eatery at Panitanki, near the India-Nepal border, in Darjeeling district on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police found the gunny bags near the counter of the eatery owned by a Doma Lama, said Inspector-General of Police (North Bengal) K.L. Tamta.

Lama told the police that two men who came to her eatery on Tuesday left behind the bags, saying they would come back soon. But they never did, she said.

Lama, however, could not give a satisfactory reply when asked why she did not inform the police even after two days.

Lama and Uttam Rai, a customer of the eatery, who was there when the policemen arrived, were arrested. Rai said he was innocent and he was just relaxing after taking food. The police sent the bones to a doctor, who confirmed that they were human remains, Mr. Tamta said.

Earlier reports had said that 70 skulls and a backbone were recovered from one gunny bag.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the force that guards the India-Nepal border, said they came to know of the bags from a source and informed the police. The two arrested persons would be produced in a court on Saturday. — PTI

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