Indian police launched investigations after the decomposed remains of 14 newborns and fetuses were discovered in a deserted plot in Kolkata on Sunday, officials and news reports said.

The remains, wrapped in plastic bags, were found in a grassy area in southwestern Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, when workers were cleaning it, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Some of the bodies were in a half-decomposed state, while a few were completely decomposed.

"We have little idea [about the remains]. It appears they were dumped since this land was lying unused for quite some time," he said.

Senior police officials told domestic media that investigations had been launched, amid concerns the cases could be linked to an illegal abortion racket, or could be cases of female feticide or infanticide.

Skeletal remains of babies and fetuses, most of them females, have been found in abandoned areas Indian towns and cities in recent years.

Despite laws against fetal sex determination, female feticide is widespread in India. Many cases of female infanticide are also reported from various parts of the country every year.

A cultural preference for sons over daughters, paired with modern technology, has led to the mushrooming of scores of illegal neonatal clinics across India.