A human skull was found in the holy waterbody of the Tripureswari temple, one of Shakti Peethas, in Tripura's Gomati district.

The police have registered a case and investigations have started to find out how the skull reached the waterbody, known as Kalyan Sagar, inside the compound of the 500-year-old shrine, also known as the Tripura Sundari temple.

A group of people found the skull floating in the Kalyan Sagar early on Thursday and informed the authorities.

"The police have received the skull and kept it in the district hospital for post-mortem examination. Divers of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) searched the waterbody to check if more human parts remained there but nothing else was found," Chief Minister Manik Saha said in the assembly on Thursday.

Saha said the police have examined CCTV footage of the temple and its nearby areas but no clue was found.

Officer-in-charge of the local police station, Babul Das, said a case has been registered in this regard.

"We are checking the list of missing persons in entire Gomati district but so far nothing adverse has been found," he said.

The water of Kalyan Sagar will not be used for the next 45 days as it has become unholy after the recovery of the skull, said the manager of the temple, Manik Datta.

"We will have to perform a puja after 45 days to make Kalyan Sagar holy again," he said.

The temple was founded by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in 1501. It is presently run by the state government as per the condition of the 1949 agreement by which the kingdom of Tripura merged with the Indian Union.

People from any religion can offer puja to Goddess Tripura Sundari, according to a state government website.

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