Manipur Senapati Market

Manipur, Dec 5: In an accident that inspired surprise and dread in equal measure, a severed human hand was found lying on the Imphal-Dimapur highway in Manipur’s Senapati district.

As per cops, The hand, which was found near a temple located on a stretch of the road in Senapati District Manipur between Maram Centre and Maram Bazaar, is believed to have been carried to the spot by a street dog.

But what has befuddled police officers as well as local residents is the fact that no incidents of murder or a barbaric crime like human hands being chopped off have been reported in the area. Therefore, who the hand belongs to and how it got there remains a mystery at this point in time.

A Suo Motu case has been registered. We are investigating the issue and putting in all possible efforts to find if this the severed hand can be traced back to any crime,” officer-in-charge of Mao police station Jonah Raphuba Chawang.

The officer added that the hand, which preliminary investigation suggests belonged to a human male, has been kept in the custody of Mao police station.

To ascertain details like age gender and the possible time w it was cut off, the severed hands has been sent to the forensic unit of JNIMS hospital in Imphal East. Once we obtain the forensic report, we might get some clues to link the severed hand to any possible crime,” added Chawang.

The officer continued, “Along with local villagers and volunteers, we carried out a thorough search in the area. We even used Assam Rifles sniffer dogs in our search operation, but no trace crime could be found. We also sent out messages to all police stations of the state to share information of crimes to which this served hand could be linked. But no such linkages could be established till now and no person has been reported missing in Senapati district recently.