KOLKATA: Police in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal have arrested six people for illegally trading in human skulls and bones following complaints bodies were missing from graveyards, a senior officer said on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip off, police raided two places in Purbasthali village, 170 kilometres northwest of the state capital Kolkata late on Sunday, Superintendent Peeyush Pandey said.Police recovered at least 50 skulls and skeletons — treated with chemicals -- packed in jute bags and hidden underground, Pandey said. “We received complaints that several bodies were missing from graveyards and, while investigating the case, we stumbled on the secret bones factory,” he said.

The arrested men confessed the bones were sold to medical students and used in the manufacture of traditional medicines, he said.

“We have also got information that the skeletons seized during the raids were to be shipped to buyers in China, Hong Kong and Bangladesh with each skeleton fetching Rs1,200 to Rs2,500 ($27 to $56),” Pandey said.—AFP