Dharmasthala mass burials: SIT likely to submit report to court by weekend

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation team (SIT) investigating the alleged Dharmasthala mass burial case is likely to submit its report to the court by end of this week. 

Highly placed sources in the Home Department said the government has instructed the SIT chief not to delay the submission of the report in the case. It has been asked to complete the process quickly.

Already, the SIT team has shared a lot of information at the government level. Some materials collected during the investigation have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, and the report is expected shortly.

The final report will be prepared considering forensic inputs, the sources said.

A case was registered at Dharmasthala police station on July 4 based on a complaint by a man named Chinnayya, stating that he had buried hundreds of bodies.

Later, the complainant appeared before the Belthangady court and gave a detailed statement. He said he had buried hundreds of bodies. Subsequently, the government handed over the investigation to the SIT led by Pronab Mohanty.

The SIT, based on Chinnayya’s statement, dup up the locations he pointed out and searched for skeletons. When no remains were found, suspicions rose against Chinnayya. The SIT arrested him on charges of perjury. 

Based on the statement that hundreds of bodies were buried in Dharmasthala, records from the police station and gram panchayat were examined. Staff and retired personnel were interrogated.

Meanwhile, a certain group, sensing that the investigation has reached its final stage, has attempted to file a fresh complaint with the government to keep it alive. Complaints have also been submitted to the chief minister and several ministers stating that something has indeed happened in Dharmasthala and everything should come out.