KOZHIKODE: The discovery of a human skull amidst piles of dumped waste near the Kozhikode Railway Station triggered police to launch a formal investigation into the origins of the remains.
The incident came to light when a passenger walking along a narrow alleyway connecting platform number four of the railway station to the Valiyangadi and Kuttichira areas spotted the skull exposed along the roadside.
The skull appeared to have rolled or slipped out from a large accumulation of garbage dumped on an adjacent, privately owned vacant plot. The passerby immediately alerted the Kozhikode Town Police to the scene.
A specialized sniffer dog squad joined police personnel to secure and inspect the immediate surroundings.
As the vacant property is regularly misused as an illegal dumping ground, investigators suspect that the skull may have been transported to the site alongside household or commercial refuse.
To ensure no other skeletal remains or personal belongings were hidden beneath the waste, municipal sanitation workers from the Kozhikode Corporation were brought in to conduct a detailed sweep of the area.
Despite combing through the debris, workers confirmed that no additional bones or evidence were recovered.
Preliminary physical assessments by the police suggest the skull is approximately one to two years old.
Officers observed minimal soil encrustation on the bone, raising questions about whether the remains were recently moved or discarded at the location.
The town police have officially registered a case and taken the skull into custody. The remains have been handed over to forensic experts for comprehensive scientific testing, including DNA sampling, carbon analysis, and forensic evaluation to establish the gender, approximate age, and identity of the deceased.
Moving forward, investigators plan to cross-reference forensic findings with missing person reports filed across the region over the past two years to identify potential matches.