Indian arrested in Nepal for allegedly smuggling human skulls

The human skulls might have been smuggled for performing tantric rituals.

A 66-year-old Indian man has been arrested in Nepal for allegedly smuggling 15 human skulls, police said on Wednesday.

An Indian was held in Nepal for allegedly smuggling human skulls. (File Photo)

Bhagirath Singh of West Bengal’s Khoribari was paid Rs 1,000 by an unidentified person to smuggle the cranial bones across the border, they said.

The human skulls might have been smuggled for performing tantric rituals, superintendent of police Sailesh Thapa said.

Singh was caught by police during a security check near Kakarbhitta customs office in Jhapa district on Monday, about 450km east of Kathmandu.

He will be booked under the Public Offence Act as Nepal’s law does not specify possession of human body parts as an offence.

Kakarbhitta has become a transit point for smuggling of human bones in the recent years, according to the police.

Nepalese and Indian citizens often smuggle human skulls to Nepal from Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram through Kakarbhitta border.