Air yet to clear over Haridevpur mystery, packets sent for forensic probe

Kolkata: Mystery over the 14 suspicious plastic packets found in Haridevpur still continues. On Monday the packets were sent for forensic enquiry to determine what their exact contents are.

On Sunday, police had initially told the media that there were bodies of some premature babies in the packets. Later at night police took a u-turn, stating that the things found inside the packets did not contain human tissue. Based on verbal opinion from the doctors of M R Bangur Hospital, police informed that the contents of the packets might be some kind of chemical or clinical waste.

Following the developments, question arose on how police could issue more than one statement without having any concrete information about the contents of the packets.

Sources informed that police have decided to send all fourteen packets found in a swamp at Haridevpur to the state forensic science laboratory, in a bid to identify their contents for good.

On Monday, Deputy Commissioner of South West division Nilanjan Biswas said: "We still do not know what the objects contained. The packets have been sent to the forensic laboratory for further analysis. It is not possible for us to say anything without the report."

Further questions arose on why the statements were released prematurely, if the investigators were not sure of the contents of the packets and a thorough enquiry was important.

According to sources, police are now assuming that the objects inside the packets were adult diapers. They most likely had been dumped by some individuals and not any nursing home or clinic.

On Sunday, police had suspected that the packets might have been disposed by a clinic or nursing home. Some of the local nursing homes were even about to be scanned, before the u-turn in police statement occurred after the packets were opened at M R Bangur Hospital.