PURI: The Puri Marine police and forensic experts are on their toes to establish the identity of a skeleton recovered from a cashew forest on Saturday.The skeleton was found behind Saikat Nivas, the inspection bungalow of the Forest department, along the Puri-Konark Marine Drive road. While the flesh had completely decomposed, only the trouser was left on the skeleton. Police believe the skeleton to be around a fortnight old.
Bhubaneswar police stumbled upon the skeleton while investigating the missing case of a 28-year-old youth. After tracking the mobile phone number of the missing youth, the police traced it near Marine Drive Road at Puri. The Capital City cops, with the help of Puri Marine Police, recovered the mobile phone from a youth and detained him.
During interrogation, the youth informed that he found the gadget in the nearby jungle. The cops conducted a thorough search and found the skeleton in the forest. Family members of the missing youth arrived at Puri but failed to identify the skeleton. Marine Police IIC Pranati Pattnaik said the cops will go for DNA test to establish the identity of the skeleton.
Sources said SDPO Susil Kumar Mishra and officials of Bhubaneswar police are investigating the case. Police refused to reveal the name of the missing youth and other details pertaining to the case.