Human remains stolen from 22 graves in Mirzapur

After the discovery of theft of human remains from 42 graves in two graveyards in Dinajpur last week, 22 human remains were found to have been stolen from a graveyard in Mirzapur.

The 22 graves in Mirzapur, inside a century-old graveyard at Shabhulla village of Fatepur union, might have been dug out for skeletons between Tuesday night and early morning yesterday, said locals.

Humayun Talukder, president of the graveyard committee and also former chairman of Fatepur Union Parishad, said affected relatives of the deceased as well as villagers were outraged by the discovery.

A few months back, thieves made off with several human remains from the same graveyard, he said, adding that the thieves might have taken advantage of lack of security lighting inside the graveyard and sharp fall in people’s movement in the area due to extreme cold.   

Saiful Islam, a ward member of the union parishad, said they petitioned the local Rural Electrification Bard office in 2018 for electric poles in the graveyard area, but to no avail. 

Mirzapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saidur Rahman said they received a complaint of the theft and already launched an investigation.

Human remains were also stolen from another graveyard in neighbouring village of Baniara in the same upazila several months ago.

Human skeletons are high in demand among medical students for their anatomy courses and organised gangs of criminals often steal human remains from graves for making a quick buck from the sale of skeletons.