Half-burnt portions of skulls and bones were exhumed in the presence of top officials, including CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar and Contai Judicial Magistrate Jaiprakash Singh.

The five graves were found by the CRPF at Bidyapith village in the Marxist stronghold of Khejuri on Wednesday.

The bones were wrapped with thick papers before being put in a crate.

East Midnapore SP Satyeswar Panda said that the bones would be sent for forensic tests in Kolkata.

In Kolkata, CPM Central Committee member Shyamal Chakraborty said the discovery of human bones was ‘quite normal’.

Speaking to a TV channel he said, "This is quite normal in such areas. When you find half-burnt skulls in cremation grounds, there is nothing abnormal. Don't try to find meaning in it."

Chakraborty claimed the bodies in the graves might be of those killed in a recent bomb attack.

He said post mortem had been conducted on the bodies and they were half-burnt because of shortage of firewood.