Lanka probes 49 skulls found at construction site
Ajith Jayasena, the Judicial Medical Officer of Matale town, said skeletal remains are being collected from the site in order to subject them to further investigations.
It was not possible for the authorities to establish any details just yet, Jayasena said, adding that archaeological and soil experts' views also would also be sought as part of the preliminary investigations.
Concerns had been raised by a breakaway faction of the Marxist JVP who claimed that the 49 skulls might have been of the youth killed during the JVP's 1971 insurrection.
The government crackdown on the JVP's 1971 and 1989 insurrections had left thousands of youth dead and often buried in mass graves, the rights groups have alleged.
Construction workers discovered the skulls during two weeks of excavations for extending a hospital in Matal.