Eighteen amputated body parts, including two decapitated torsos and limbs that were kept in two suitcases, were found in a river under a bridge in Kaimur district of the western state of Bihar on Sunday, police said on Monday.
The horrific discovery was made at around 10am on Sunday when locals were alerted to a foul odor emanating from under the bridge along the Mohanya-Chosa National Highway and spotted two trunks floating in the water. As they got closer, they also spotted two blue bags with severed limbs and body parts.
A child between 10 and 12 years old is believed to be one of the two victims.
Police said the bags may have been opened when they were thrown into the Durgwati River.
Police said they recovered 18 pieces of the bodies of two people from different parts of the river by the end of the operation, which lasted for hours. The fingernails of one of the severed hands bore traces of nail polish.
“It is possible that the criminals dumped the heads elsewhere,” a police officer said.
Senior district police officers, including Superintendent of Police (SP) Hari Mohan Shukla and teams from Forensic Science Laboratory, District Intelligence Unit and Dog Squad were immediately deployed to assist in the investigation.
Shukla said the way the bodies were dismembered and dumped made it clear that this was a premeditated crime. “They threw the bodies into the river to destroy the evidence,” he added.
Shukla said there were no reports of missing persons from any police station in the district. However, information has been sought regarding missing persons from the border areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The decomposed torsos, along with the severed limbs of two people, are being sent to FSL Patna for forensic examination and to assist in identification.
