Dharmasthala case: Recording of complainant's statement completed

Mangaluru: The recording of the statement of the complainant-witness in the alleged Dharmasthala mass burial case was completed at the Belthangady JMFC Court on Saturday.

Sources in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said that he was brought from Shivamogga jail to the Belthangady JMFC Court at 11.30 am and remained there until 4.30 pm. Later, he was taken back to Shivamogga prison under tight security.

The complainant-witness, who had lodged a complaint with the Dharmasthala police, had earlier handed over a skull, claiming it to be the remains of a body he had buried and later exhumed. However, when the SIT questioned him further and asked him to identify the exact spot where the skull had been dug out, he reportedly hesitated and later retracted, stating that he had not exhumed it himself.

Following this, the SIT arrested him and produced him before the court on August 23, after which the Belthangady JMFC court remanded him in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the hearing on the bail application of activist Mahesh Shetty Thimarody in connection with a case registered by Belthangady police under the Arms Act has been posted to September 30. The bail application was filed before the principal district and sessions court in Mangaluru. As the public prosecutor sought time to file objections, the court granted time and posted the matter to September 30.

On the other hand, Belthangady Tahsildar Prithvi Sanikam has denied permission for the proposed protest on September 29 against the externment order issued to Thimarody.