Kolkata, Dec 13 (IANS): Panic gripped people in the Gold Green area in Kolkata on Friday when they spotted the severed head of a woman on the piled garbage in a litter van.

The morning walkers, who spotted the severed head, immediately informed the local police station.

The cops rushed to the spot and took away the severed head of the woman. However, the body of the woman or her body parts could not be recovered from anywhere nearby.

Sources from the city police said that it is quite possible that the woman's body was severed in several parts and disposed of at different places to mislead the police and delay the investigation process.

Investigations were on to identify the woman first and know what actually happened to her and finally track those responsible behind such a gruesome crime, said a city police official.

The local people were unable to identify the woman. The investigating officials are examining the footage of the CCTV machines installed in the area. Deputy Commissioner (eastern suburban division) of Kolkata Police Bidisha Kalita herself arrived at the spot.

However, the recovery of the severed head of the woman from a posh and crowded locality has created ripples in the area.

On Wednesday night only, a decomposed body of a man wrapped in a sack was recovered from a litter vat at Thakurpukur in the southern outskirts of Kolkata. In this case, also the identity of the deceased person is yet to be known.

In this case, the police suspect that the deceased was a vagabond. And his death might have been caused after he had fallen into a heap of garbage.

Earlier in April this year, the body parts of a woman were recovered wrapped in polythene bags from an abandoned barrack of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the Watgunge area in South Kolkata. In this case, however, the woman was identified within a couple of days.