Thursday, January 5 2006 09:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Skeletal remains of 13 bodies were yesterday (Jan 4,2006) dug out from the grave at Lunavada in Gujarat, where victims of post-Godhra communal riots were buried, after exhuming of bodies began under the supervision of the CBI and forensic experts in compliance with the Gujarat High Court's order.

CBI sources said as many as 13 skeletal remains were dug out from the site and the process would continue today (Jan 5,2006). The state police had claimed that 20 people had been buried at the site. The sources said that if there was a trace of any further skeletons at the site, the digging would continue.

CBI was directed by the High Court on December 29 to collect skeletons from the mass grave in Panchmahal district and ordered these to be sent to the forensic laboratory in Hyderabad for DNA testing.

A 10-member CBI team headed by a Deputy Inspector General and a six-member team of forensic experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) led by Dr P D Dogra and two officials from Central Forensic Laboratory were overseeing the digging process at the site.

The team would collect the DNA samples of the skeletal remains and compare them with that of the people who claimed they were related to the victims buried in the grave, the sources said.

If the samples did not match, the CBI would also attempt them to match with the missing seven victims in the Bilkis Bano rape-cum-massacre case.