Karnataka to excavate site of skulls find

BANGALORE - The Karnataka government plans to excavate about an acre around the area in Dharwad district where a large number of skulls and some skeletons have been found to resolve the mystery, a senior official said Friday.

“About an acre of land around the area will be declared as protected and home guards may be posted to guard it,” Darpan Jain, deputy commissioner of Dharwad district, about 420 km from here, told reporters in Dharwad.

A number of skulls were found Saturday when the drainage in Annigeri near Dharwad was being desilted. So far around 50 skulls and a few skeletons have been found buried in the place.

“A team of experts in history and archaeology is also being set up to find out the history of the area to get a clear picture,” Jain said.

Doctors at the government-run Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences in Hubli, Dharwad’s twin city, have examined three skulls and reported that they belonged to people aged around 30 to 40 at the time of burial.

“Of the three skulls, two were male and one female. The doctors did not find any injury to the skulls,” Jain said.

The skulls have been sent for further tests to the forensic laboratory in Hyderabad.

“Help of the Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, is also being sought,” Jain said.

Results of the tests would be available in 30 to 60 days, he said.

The Archaeological Survey of India and the state archaeology department officials have visited the site.

The excavation may start after two months when the weather improves. At present the monsoon is active in the state.

The area has been cordoned off as scores of people have started visiting it as news of the recovery of skulls spread.

State Home Minister V.S. Acharya told reporters here Wednesday that the area might have been a mass grave some 150-200 years ago.

“The area must have been a mass grave 150 to 200 years ago. It might be an abandoned cemetery or remains of people who died during a minor battle in the area 150 years back,” he said.

“These are all assumptions. We have not arrived at any final conclusion,” he added.