ROURKELA: Police have launched an investigation after a dismembered human leg along with some bones were recovered from the settling tank of a sewage treatment plant at Tumkela in Sector 16 area here on Saturday.
Police said a worker spotted the leg, believed to be of man, after the water level of the tank linked to the pumping station receded. Severed from the knee, the left leg was holding dried flesh. Subsequently, the entire water was drained out in search of the remaining body parts.
During the search, tarsal bones of the right foot along with hip bones were found. However, other body parts including the torso and head could not be recovered.
IIC of Sector 15 police station Suresh Chandra Pradhan said the sewage treatment facility is interconnected with a wide network of about 350 km of underground sewage lines. It is possible that the full body of the deceased person might have been gradually pushed forward with flow of sewerage water. Over a period of time, the body might have got fragmented and some parts flowed to the tank.
Pradhan said in absence of any credible information, the circumstances leading to the man’s death cannot be ascertained. From the appearance of the available body parts, it is possible the man might have died a couple of months ago.
The recovered body parts have been preserved in the morgue of the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for autopsy.
The IIC said autopsy of the available body parts would be conducted and sent to the Forensic Medicine and Toxicology department of the Sundargarh Government Medical College and Hospital for further examination.
Police are also considering DNA examination of the available parts. An unnatural death case has been registered in connection with the incident and further investigation is underway, he added.
Incidentally, the sewage treatment plant caters to the need of the captive township of the Rourkela Steel Plant.