<p>Bengaluru: The probe into the Dharmasthala 'mass burial' case is set to expand, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) gearing up to look into a 7-year-old panel report that had referred to several suspicious deaths of women and children in the vicinity of the temple town, sources said. <br><br>The SIT will also vet the FIRs registered elsewhere in Karnataka and neighbouring states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Goa about the "disappearance of pilgrims" visiting the temple town, the source told <em>DH</em>, dismissing reports that the arrest of the complainant-witness would mean the end of the probe.</p>.<p>A panel formed to prevent sexual violence against women and girls and headed by former lawmaker V S Ugrappa had in 2018 submitted a 5,000-page report highlighting several instances of women disappearing in the state, including in the temple town’s vicinity.</p>.<p>The panel had recommended a special police force to trace missing women and girls and a special police cell for Belthangady Taluk, where the incidence of unnatural deaths is high. Dharmasthala falls in Belthangady Taluk.</p>.Dharmasthala mass burial case: SIT conduct mahazar at Thimmarody's house.<p><strong>Unexplained disappearances </strong></p>.<p>The SIT is also looking at reports of "unexplained disappearances", if any, of pilgrims in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014.</p>.<p>According to sources, apart from the current complainant, there have been similar complaints about bodies involved in suspicious burials without proper autopsy. The SIT will look into them as well.</p>.<p>According to the SIT, the current complainant's narrative about mass killings and burials in the temple town are not entirely false. They are now looking at expanding the probe besides continuing the search for bodies suspected to have been buried in the area. </p>.<p>“We are awaiting forensic reports of some of the remains that we found while digging up several places," the source said. "The search for skeletal remains at suspected spots where they were buried will continue. We will also look into the cases of missing persons we have got from the neighbouring states and are suspected to be linked to the matter we are probing.” </p>.<p>A complex, technology-driven multidisciplinary forensic probe is being launched by the SIT. Sources said the soil in the region is highly acidic and skeletal remains of bodies buried more than 15 years back are unlikely to survive.</p>.<p>However, traces of organic chemicals from decomposed bodies like phosphates, nitrates, lipids and even DNA may remain in the soil for a longer duration. Soil analysis at select spots is likely to reveal if the bodies were buried a decade or so ago, forensic experts privy to the SIT’s work said.</p>.<p>However, forensic experts DH spoke to cautioned that such traces of chemicals may also have accumulated from other natural processes, making it difficult to link them to the suspected killings and burials.</p>.<p>On July 17, 2025, the state government constituted the four-member SIT to probe the FIR registered in the Dharmasthala police station in the wake of the complainant’s statement that he had buried bodies of several women in the area and the bodies bore signs of sexual violence. The SIT was also tasked with probing cases registered in connection with the alleged mass killing in police stations elsewhere in the state.</p>.<p><strong>Complainant to be probed </strong></p>.<p>The complainant will also be the subject of SIT probe because he had brought a skull with him when he walked into a court and falsely claimed that it was the skull of one of the victims. “The skull the masked man brought was nothing but a foreign object in the matter. Whose skull is it, where did he get it from and where are the other skeletal remains? This will be the subject of probe against him,” sources confirmed. "We approached the court and proved that this artefact that he carried proved to be a lie. We want to know who gave him the skull and who is the gang operating behind this.”</p>.<p>SIT roadmap Continue to probe alleged mass burials between 1995-2014 and investigate unnatural death cases Burial probe divided into two parts: 90% of it to look into the exhumation and probe where the complainant got the skull Investigating other complaints will form 10% of the probe</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The probe into the Dharmasthala 'mass burial' case is set to expand, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) gearing up to look into a 7-year-old panel report that had referred to several suspicious deaths of women and children in the vicinity of the temple town, sources said. <br><br>The SIT will also vet the FIRs registered elsewhere in Karnataka and neighbouring states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Goa about the "disappearance of pilgrims" visiting the temple town, the source told <em>DH</em>, dismissing reports that the arrest of the complainant-witness would mean the end of the probe.</p>.<p>A panel formed to prevent sexual violence against women and girls and headed by former lawmaker V S Ugrappa had in 2018 submitted a 5,000-page report highlighting several instances of women disappearing in the state, including in the temple town’s vicinity.</p>.<p>The panel had recommended a special police force to trace missing women and girls and a special police cell for Belthangady Taluk, where the incidence of unnatural deaths is high. Dharmasthala falls in Belthangady Taluk.</p>.Dharmasthala mass burial case: SIT conduct mahazar at Thimmarody's house.<p><strong>Unexplained disappearances </strong></p>.<p>The SIT is also looking at reports of "unexplained disappearances", if any, of pilgrims in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014.</p>.<p>According to sources, apart from the current complainant, there have been similar complaints about bodies involved in suspicious burials without proper autopsy. The SIT will look into them as well.</p>.<p>According to the SIT, the current complainant's narrative about mass killings and burials in the temple town are not entirely false. They are now looking at expanding the probe besides continuing the search for bodies suspected to have been buried in the area. </p>.<p>“We are awaiting forensic reports of some of the remains that we found while digging up several places," the source said. "The search for skeletal remains at suspected spots where they were buried will continue. We will also look into the cases of missing persons we have got from the neighbouring states and are suspected to be linked to the matter we are probing.” </p>.<p>A complex, technology-driven multidisciplinary forensic probe is being launched by the SIT. Sources said the soil in the region is highly acidic and skeletal remains of bodies buried more than 15 years back are unlikely to survive.</p>.<p>However, traces of organic chemicals from decomposed bodies like phosphates, nitrates, lipids and even DNA may remain in the soil for a longer duration. Soil analysis at select spots is likely to reveal if the bodies were buried a decade or so ago, forensic experts privy to the SIT’s work said.</p>.<p>However, forensic experts DH spoke to cautioned that such traces of chemicals may also have accumulated from other natural processes, making it difficult to link them to the suspected killings and burials.</p>.<p>On July 17, 2025, the state government constituted the four-member SIT to probe the FIR registered in the Dharmasthala police station in the wake of the complainant’s statement that he had buried bodies of several women in the area and the bodies bore signs of sexual violence. The SIT was also tasked with probing cases registered in connection with the alleged mass killing in police stations elsewhere in the state.</p>.<p><strong>Complainant to be probed </strong></p>.<p>The complainant will also be the subject of SIT probe because he had brought a skull with him when he walked into a court and falsely claimed that it was the skull of one of the victims. “The skull the masked man brought was nothing but a foreign object in the matter. Whose skull is it, where did he get it from and where are the other skeletal remains? This will be the subject of probe against him,” sources confirmed. "We approached the court and proved that this artefact that he carried proved to be a lie. We want to know who gave him the skull and who is the gang operating behind this.”</p>.<p>SIT roadmap Continue to probe alleged mass burials between 1995-2014 and investigate unnatural death cases Burial probe divided into two parts: 90% of it to look into the exhumation and probe where the complainant got the skull Investigating other complaints will form 10% of the probe</p>