Panic, probe as Delhi BJP raises alarm over ‘skeleton’ found during clean-up drive

According to the BJP, the team found extensive encroachments and garbage around the pandal being erected at the temple. Along with municipal staff, the party workers removed around 15 truckloads of garbage and debris. Around 50 vehicles allegedly parked illegally were also removed, the party claimed.

It was during the drive that a wooden box containing what some described as a “human skeleton” was found inside the jhuggi of a scrap dealer identified by the party as Mohammad Shakeel. The matter was subsequently reported to the Delhi Police.

Bhatia claimed that Shakeel told the team that he had purchased the box as part of scrap from a local school. The BJP raised the possibility of a conspiracy, citing the location of the recovery near the temple and its proximity to the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations, and called for an investigation into the matter.

According to DCP Central Rohit Rajbir Singh, police staff reached the spot after receiving information and found an old, assembled skeletal structure inside the wooden box. There were no bloodstains or any other suspicious material in or around the box, officers said.

#WATCH | Delhi Police say, “An object resembling a skeleton was discovered among scrap materials during a cleanliness drive in Central Delhi. However, preliminary investigations reveal that the scrap dealer had obtained the skeleton from a school. The skeleton is part of the… pic.twitter.com/nw6dP0s5Qa

— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2026

During the preliminary inquiry, police learnt that the material had been purchased as scrap from Government Boys Senior Secondary School on Mata Sundari Road, along with other old and broken articles. The school principal told police that the institution had shifted to a new building in 2023 and that old and broken articles from the earlier building were disposed of as scrap in July this year during a cleanliness drive, said officers.

The Forensic Team examined the recovered material at the spot. According to the preliminary assessment of the forensic expert, the structure appeared to consist of artificial bones.

Police said such a structure could have been used for educational or study purposes, including as a teaching aid in a school laboratory. “At this stage, there is no prima facie indication of any criminal offence in the matter,” DCP Singh said.

The BJP, meanwhile, also raised broader concerns about encroachments along Deendayal Upadhyay Marg, Rouse Avenue and Mata Sundari Road.

Party spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor called for surprise inspections of the area by the Municipal Commissioner and Police Commissioner, citing the presence of courts, educational institutions, hospitals, political party offices and NGOs in the vicinity.