The skeletal remains of 80 bodies had been unearthed from a mass grave at Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar during the excavation work carried out so far, the Police said.

The number of the remains unearthed so far has reached 80 by yesterday after excavations carried out by the CID on the instructions of the Mannar Magistrate Anandhi Kanagaratnam.

The excavation was carried out in the presence of the Magistrate and the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the Anuradhapura Hospital Dhananjaya Waidyaratne.

"We found more skeletons yesterday and the figure now stands at 80," foreign media reports quoted Dr. Waidyaratne as saying.

The figure was up from a previously released figure of 63.

"We have submitted the evidence to courts," he added.

The remains were first found by some workers who were digging a trench to lay water pipes on December 20, 2013.

The excavations were suspended on January 31 on the orders of the Magistrate in view of the Thiruketheeswaram Temple festival. (Chaturanga Pradeep)