27 skulls recovered from Puri to be examined

Bhubaneswar, Sep 8 (PTI) As many as 27 apparently human skulls recovered from a house in the holy town of Puri will be examined by a four-member team at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack.

The police had recovered the skulls from a house of one Manoranjan Jena in Puri who claimed to be an engineer working with ONGC in Mumbai, following allegations of sorcery by locals.

The skulls were found lined up on the shelves of Jena’s house. But the police had said nothing suspicious nor any document was found in the room, which pointed to sorcery.

SCBMCH emergency officer Bhubanananda Maharana said its Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (FMT) department today set up the four-member team to examine different aspects.

“The expert team will examine whether the skulls belonged to human beings, their sex and age, male or female, injuries if any on the skulls, whether they occurred before or after death, any pathological disease and other aspects,” he said.

The report on the skulls would be submitted to the police within two weeks.

Police has suo motu registered a case and Jena was released on a PR bond on Sunday.

“It is a motivational centre and I have kept these skulls since the past nine years. I have even uploaded pictures and information about this in the internet. It is part of my efforts to rid people of their fear of skeletons or ghosts. If it is punishable under law, then I respect the law and will accept the punishment,” Jena had said.

Claiming himself as an atheist, Jena had said he had been creating awareness among people not to fear ghosts.