Sheena Bora was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani Mukerjea in 2012.
The village official in Raigad district, who helped Mumbai Police team locate the spot where Sheena Bora was allegedly buried, today said when he first spotted the body in 2012 it was just a skeleton with no flesh.
"It was all skeleton. There was no flesh. The local government doctor took it for post mortem, after which it was buried," Police Patil Ganesh Dhene of Hetevne village said.
Asked how he came across the skeletal remains, Mr Dhene said: "I had gone to collect mangoes. The body was not in a suitcase. The surrounding area was burnt."
Asked if the area was burnt as a result of petrol being poured on the body, Mr Dhene said, "I don't know if it was burnt by petrol or something else."
A team of police, forensic experts and villagers had on Friday exhumed skeletal remains after Mr Dhene identified the exact spot where Sheena's body was allegedly dumped in the forest three years back.
The team of police officials and forensic experts from Mumbai had reached Gagode Budruk village in Pen teshil of Raigad and the digging started around 6 AM on Friday.
Around noon, having dug just a couple of feet into the ground, the team sighted a portion of the skeleton sticking out.
They learnt about Police Patil Ganesh Dhene of Hetevne village, who was present when the body was found at the crime scene on May 23, 2012, and also when it was later buried there by the police the same day.
Mr Dhene, who has been Police Patil since 2011, remembered that the body was buried near a mango tree in 2012, which helped in identifying the spot and leading the police team there.
As per the Bombay Village Police Act, a Police Patil is directly subordinate to the Police department and the taluka magistrate. In case a crime is committed in the limits of village, he makes immediate report to the police station and renders necessary help to the police officer to detect the offender.