Hooghly home horror: 2 more bodies dug up

More skeletons tumbled out of the Hooghly Welfare Home’s closet on Tuesday, when CID investigators — acting on the admission of an ambulance driver — unearthed the bodies of two inmates from the Damodar river bank.

More skeletons tumbled out of the Hooghly Welfare Home’s closet on Tuesday, when CID investigators — acting on the admission of an ambulance driver — unearthed the bodies of two inmates from the Damodar river bank.

This discovery has raised the number of bodies, unearthed since July 11, to four. The ambulance driver confessed that he would take bodies to the riverbank at night, and bury them for a fee of Rs 200.

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While one of the bodies was identified as that of 18-year-old Ranjana Devi, the identity of the other inmate — roughly in her thirties — is yet to be established. “The bodies were buried two months ago. The driver told us that he had done it on the instruction of Udaychand Kumar, secretary of the home. They will be sent for post-mortem,” said an investigator.

The CID has taken the home secretary Udaychand Kumar, gravedigger Ranjit Mondal, ambulance driver Sunny and plumber Sandeep Das into custody. A hunt is on for Shyamal Ghosh, the secretary’s aide.

The matter first came to light on July 11, when the body of a 32-year-old woman was dug up from a private home in Hooghly after locals complained.