Construction workers beginning work on a new market complex also found bangles, rings, human hair, and a few coins on site. The remains have been taken in for forensic testing.
As per reports, at least eight human skeletal remains were found at a construction site in Imphal, Manipur, on Dec. 26.
NDTV states that there is construction occurring to build a new market complex, and in the last 48 hours, workers on site discovered the human remains. They also report that the site was previously a government school, before becoming the central base for paramilitary forces during insurgent activities. There have been many reports of disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
The discovery of the remains has caused people living in the area to presume that they are of relatives that have been missing for the last three decades, as their bodies were never recovered.
The families have long contested that their relatives were killed in counter-insurgency operations in the state and, allegedly, most of them were deemed fake encounters.
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There have reportedly been over 1,500 fake encounter killings that are currently under investigation and pending with the Supreme Court.
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In an NDTV report, Md. Baniyamin, general secretary of Families of the Involuntarily Disappeared's Association, Manipur, said:
"The fact is that the school complex where the eight skulls and skeletons were recovered were previously occupied by both central paramilitary forces and state police commandos as their outpost during the height of counter-insurgency operations in Imphal where cases of involuntarily disappeared occurred."
Manipur's University's anthropology department estimates that the remains could be anywhere between 17 to 40 years old.
NDTV has statements by human rights activists who want "a thorough enquiry in the case."
"Who knows how many skulls are still to be unearthed, which hold with them stories which could be heinous or not, this need[s] to be found out. It is the responsibility of Government to conduct a proper inquiry after carrying out scientific excavation," said human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam.
As per the Hindusthan Times , Manipur People's Party (MPP) have taken up the matter, and have tasked state authorities to explain where the remains came from within seven days.
"The recovery of the skeletal remains including human skulls reminds us the olden day proverb secrets never remains as secret," said N. Sovakiran, MPP's president of opposition.
"MPP will lodge a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs into the matter," he added.
Loitongbam alleged, "This is very possibly the graveyard of fake encounters. It is located close to the Kangla Fort, which was the site of many joint interrogations and torture."
from BuzzFeed - Latest http://www.buzzfeed.com/andreborges/mass-grave-containing-8-human-skulls-discovered-in-imphal?utm_term=4ldqpia
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