The probe began following a tip from a local physician that as many as 20 bodies may have been buried on the premises without notifying authorities.

When contacted, an officer at the Nilakottai police station, which is conducting the probe, said the police hadn’t begun digging at the alleged site. “Without that and without further probe, we cannot confirm or deny the allegations,” the officer said.

However, according to sources, an inspection at the centre on Tuesday had found that its licence had expired 18 years ago and had not been renewed since. The inspection also reportedly revealed that no relatives had contacted officials or visited the inmates, most of whom were destitutes from Kerala.

An official from the state’s department for the differently-abled said that the centre had been registered as a trust with four members — including the Kerala man — in 1999, but refused to provide any more details citing early stages of investigation.

Meanwhile, one official at the Gudalur divisional revenue office — under which the Kunthaladi falls — said that there was scant record on the inmates and the treatments they were receiving, adding that investigators were also probing if the inmates were registered under their real names.