Unclaimed body may unravel 7/11 mystery

The last unclaimed body from the July 11 Mumbai blasts could be that of one of the perpetrators, investigators have said.

The body has been lying at the forensic department of Sion hospital in suburban Mumbai for the past one month and it had become imperative for investigators to preserve it so far with the hope that family members of the victim would help police clear the confusion over the person's identity, sources said.

However, the body, with only upper torso left and the skull badly damaged, is fast decomposing and police decided to take the help of forensic authorities to reconstruct the mutilated face and prepare a clay model of the victim's face, sources said.

The forensic authorities at the Sion Hospital, with the help of cosmetic surgeons, have restored the damaged face and prepared a clay model while an artist has been assigned the job of restoring the missing features.

"Reconstruction of the face was done surgically with tissues available with forensic experts," Dr Harish Pathak of the forensic department, Sion Hospital, said.

He said that in the absence of a few fragments of the facial bones, the reconstruction will not be ideal.

"Based on the reconstructed face, an experienced sculptor is preparing a model of the deceased," Dr Pathak further said.