Kolkata Police now say no human foetus was found in packets recovered from Haridevpur

Adding a twist to the incident, senior officials of the city police said that those packets were containing medical waste, including used bandages and dry ice.

While cleaning the vacant compound at Haridevpur's Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road area, few labourers and locals found as many as 14 suspicious plastic bags and called in the police.

Policemen from local Haridevpur Police Station, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, local councillor Soma Chatterjee, city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police's Joint Commissioner (Crime) Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Deputy Commissioner of southwest division, Nilanjan Biswas, and other senior officials rushed to the scene and recovered those packets.

After visiting the scene, city Mayor Sovan Chatterjee told the media that at least 14 human foetus, few of which were partly decomposed, were found inside those packets.

Later in the evening, DC (southwest) Nilanjan Biswas confirmed the recovery of 14 foetal remains of late-term abortions and said that all nearby hospitals and nursing homes were under police's scanner to know from where those human foetuses were brought to the isolated compound.      

"Few labourers found some human foetuses wrapped inside plastic bags while they were cleaning a vacant plot surrounded by boundary wall at 214, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road under Haridevpur Police Station limits and informed us," DC (southwest) Nilanjan Biswas said during a press conference at Haridevpur Police Station at around 6 pm.

"After being recovered, those 14 human foetuses have been sent to M.R. Bangur hospital for post mortem. We have started investigation into the case and we are looking into other angles as well," the senior IPS official then said.

Thereafter Kolkata Police published its scheduled 'Incident Report' where the incident human foetus recovery was mentioned.

"Today (02.09.2018) at bout 15:00 hrs dead bodies of fourteen (14) premature babies (most are likely foetus) have been recovered in separate plastic packets inside the premise of 214, Raja Ram Mohon Roy Road (Haridevpur PS area)," the incident report read.

"Information received that at that time some workers of Balasaria Group were working there and they discovered it. Local police immmediagtely intervened and removed all the packets to M.R. Bangur Hospital," the report stated.

Nearly one hour after the announcement, DC (southwest), Nilanjan Biswas, sent text messages to the reporters at around 7:12 pm. informing that doctors at M.R. Bangur hospital did not find any human foetus inside the plastic bags.

"After opening the 14 packets and examining those, M.R. Bangur hospital's doctors told us that those packets were containing medical waste, not human foetus," Nilanjan Biswas said.

"There was a complaint of human foetal remains discovery at Haridevpur area and initially we had suspected that human foetuses were there inside the plastic bags," Biswas added.

Supporting the 'changed' statement of Nilanjan Biswas, Kolkata Police's Joint CP (Crime), Praveen Tripathi, also confirmed the absence of human foetus or human tissues inside those 'suspicious' packets.

Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts have reached the hospital at Tollygunge area to examine those bags.

"Our probe is on and we can't confirm anything until the investigation ends," Nilanjan Biswas said.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)