Dharmasthala crimes: IPS officer Soumyalatha opts out of SIT

IPS officer Soumyalatha S K and another officer have withdrawn from the Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed by the state government to probe alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala, a temple town in Dakshina Kannada. 

Soumyalatha wrote to the SIT chief, Pronab Mohanty, expressing her desire to be relieved from the SIT duties due to personal reasons, well-placed sources said. 

She also skipped the SIT meeting held at the CID office to discuss the framework of the investigation. Based on her request, Mohanty recommended to the government that her name be dropped from the team, the sources added. 

Karnataka constituted the SIT on July 20, following a petition from the Karnataka State Commission for Women, which sought an investigation into "unnatural deaths", missing cases and sexual assault cases linked to women and female students in the last 20 years in Dharmasthala, following media reports and the emergence of a witness. 

The allegations first surfaced in early July. 

A sanitation worker — whose identity has not been revealed — stated in a police complaint that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced to bury bodies, including those of women and minors, in Dharmasthala. He alleged that some of the bodies showed signs of sexual assault, and later gave a statement to a local court. 

The government ordered that all related cases from Dharmasthala and elsewhere in the state would be automatically transferred to the SIT. 

Mohanty, Director General of Police (Internal Security Division), was appointed the SIT head. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Recruitment) MN Anucheth and IPS officers Soumyalatha SK and Jitendra Kumar Dayama were also included in the team. 

On July 22, state police chief MA Saleem issued orders deputing 20 personnel — inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and constables — from Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada to the SIT. 

One of these 20 officers also asked to be relieved from the team. 

Home Minister G Parameshwara told reporters on Thursday that although he had learnt about the officers opting out of the SIT, he had not yet received official communication. He added that the officers would be replaced.