Russian Police Admit Cutting Off Hands But Deny Involvement In Mysterious Discovery

WARNING: Article contains graphic images

Everyone was pretty baffled when news emerged from Russia that dozens of severed hands had been found. The grisly discovery was made 30 kilometres from the Chinese border and an investigation was quickly sparked to find out where the hell they came from.

Fifty-three of the hands were sealed in a bag that had washed up on a snow-covered island in the middle of the Amur River but one was lying separate to the rest of them.

At the time, Russian police declined to comment on the hands, but they've since revealed some interesting information.

Authorities have admitted they chopped off more than 400 hands from bodies that weren't able to be identified. They did this so that they could scan the fingerprints and keep the appendages safe in case new technology in the future might be able to identify them.

The only problem with this news is that they are certain that the 54 hands discovered earlier this month weren't a batch that went missing from their collection.

Anatoly Nesterov, chief of the region's forensic bureau said: "We receive unidentified bodies. Last year there were 410 of them.

"Pathologists chop off wrists and pass them to police experts, who take their fingerprints.

"Next, the chopped hands are passed to a morgue where they are stored along with other biological material.

"Once the weight of the biological waste reaches 50 or 60 kilograms, it is disposed of - by burial or cremation."

So even if they got to the point where they couldn't hold all these extra hands, they'd be six feet under or reduced to ash. Khabarovsk SpetsKombinat is the company that deals with disposing some of the hands and says they have 'full control over what we do' and ensures they aren't under investigation for stuffing up one of their processes.

The last time Russian authorities had to dump a collection of hands was in 2015.

According to the Siberian Times, when these 54 hands were found, they had 'medical bandages' and 'hospital-style plastic shoe covers' were nearby - which only strengthens the idea that they were being kept for identity.

Another theory, is that the hands were chopped off as a form of punishment.

Unfortunately, the mystery continues.

Featured Image Credit: East2West News

Topics: World News, News, Interesting, Weird, Russia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie