Editing Body snatching (section)

=== India ===
Though it banned the export of human remains in the mid-1980s, India continues to maintain a robust, if under the table, international trade in human skeletons, as journalist [[Scott Carney]] indicates<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.wired.com/2007/11/ff-bones/|title=Inside India's Underground Trade in Human Remains|journal=[[Wired.com]] |access-date=2016-08-06|last1=Carney |first1=Scott }}</ref>

In 2007, the Indian police discovered a stash of hundreds of human skulls and thigh bones and arrested a gang for allegedly carrying out the practice of body snatching and indulging in bone [[Organ trade|trade]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-bones-idUSDEL10463220070619|title=Human bone smuggling racket uncovered|date=19 June 2007|newspaper=Reuters|last1=Majumdar|first1=Bappa}}</ref> This gang was arrested after they exhumed dozens of graves from Muslim [[Cemetery|cemeteries]] in [[Bardhaman|Burdwan]] district, and smuggled the skeletons not just to medical institutions in need of cadavers across the world, but also to the Himalayan kingdom of [[Bhutan]] for use in [[Buddhist monasteries of Himachal Pradesh|Buddhist monasteries]]. Kamal Sah was caught carrying 67 human skulls and 10 bones on a bus in [[Chhapra]], in the state of [[Bihar]], by fellow passengers who had noticed a jagged bone sticking out of a bag beneath his seat. The investigating officer of the incident, Ravinder Nalwa, reported to a [[Reuters]] journalist that, "during the interrogation the gang members confessed that the hollow human thigh bones were in great demand in monasteries and were used as blow-horns, and the skulls as vessels to drink from at religious ceremonies."

Buddhist monks in India likewise admitted that human thigh bones and skulls were used by followers of a Tibetan school of Buddhism. A 2009 report from [[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]] stated that alleged bone smuggler Kamal Sah was identified by civilians in Bihar state and handed over to police with two bags of human skulls and bones.<ref name="thenational.ae">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/ban-fails-to-stop-sales-of-human-bones-1.528471|title=Ban fails to stop sales of human bones|date=Feb 13, 2009|website=The National}}</ref> When questioned on the subject, the police refused to acknowledge the authorities failure to stamp out the practice and simply claimed that the police lacked "equipment, manpower and expertise to stop this practice". The criminal lawyer, Majid Menon, acknowledges that the dire economic conditions for vast numbers of people living in such states as Bihar, [[West Bengal]], [[Jharkhand]] and some parts of [[Uttar Pradesh]], have favored the practice of body snatching till date and given room for bone smugglers to flourish.

According to estimates, 20,000–25,000 human skeletons are smuggled out of India every year through Nepal, China, and Bangladesh. The skeletons reach markets in the US, Japan, Europe and the Middle East, mostly for medical institutions. The price for a complete skeleton in these markets ranges from $700 to $1500 depending on the quality and size. In India, a full skeleton costs around $350 in the open market. Young Brothers, a Calcutta-based bone dealer, sells a human skeleton for $300.<ref name="auto"/> While the complete skeletons mostly find their way to medical laboratories mostly in the West, the assorted bones and skulls are used for religious rituals mostly in Hindu and Buddhist-dominated areas. As part of their [[Vajrayana|tantric]] rituals, many tantrics drink wine in human skulls in places such as [[Nepal]] and the state of [[Assam]] in India.<ref name="thenational.ae"/>

And even though to date police have been unable to unearth any irregularity in the skeleton trade, the exporter-turned-moralist, Sanker Narayan Sen, maintains that the people from the [[Domar (caste)|Domar caste]] are often responsible for body snatching and later process the procured cadavers for export. The Government of India had twice earlier banned exports, only to revoke its decision on each occasion. According to the Exporters Association, the [[Central Bureau of Investigation|CBI]] in 2014 had once again recently concluded its investigations and submitted a report exonerating such body snatchers and exporters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/government-bans-export-of-human-skeletons/1/354694.html|title=Government bans export of human skeletons|date=21 January 2014 |access-date=2016-08-06}}</ref>