The Kochi City police have launched a probe into the recovery of the remains of a body inside a plastic drum filled with concrete mix on the bank of the Vembanad lake near Kumbalam on Monday. The incident came to light after the Panangad police smashed open one side of the drum following complaints of stench emanating and an oily substance leaking from the drum, which was floating around for the last couple of months.
During examination, officers recovered a skull and a few bones inside, in addition to a waist chain, long hair strands and bits and pieces of clothings.
Preliminary investigations suggested that the remains belonged to a woman aged around 30.
The blue-coloured barrel, recovered from a location owned by a Alappuzha-based private company, also contained a couple of demonetised bills of ₹500. “The top portion of the drum was filled with concrete and bricks and the skeleton was found when we smashed open the concrete portion. The lower part was also filled with concrete and the body was sandwiched in between,” said police officers.
The police suspect the body to be at least a year old.
According to local residents, the drum was first found lying in a marshy portion of the river some eight months ago. While dredging a portion of the river two months ago, the workers shifted it to the land using an excavator machine.
