The special investigation team (SIT) investigating the allegations regarding mass burials of victims of sexual assault and murder in the temple town of Dharmasthala, conducted a detailed on-site inspection on Monday in the town, wherein the former sanitation worker, who is also the witness and complainant in the case, led officials to 15 locations.
According to officers aware of the matter, the SIT began its first ground-level inspection at Snana Ghatta, located on the banks of the Netravathi river. The team, accompanied by the complainant and three advocates, surveyed the spot where he had earlier allegedly unearthed a skull and several other surrounding locations allegedly used for disposal of bodies.
He had earlier submitted a human skull to authorities, claiming it was exhumed from one of the burial sites.
The inspection on Monday took place under heavy police presence, with personnel from the Karnataka State Reserve Police, and the Dharmasthala and Belthangady police stations securing the entire area.
Officers confirmed that the first eight sites the complainant pointed out during the inspection lay along the Nethravathi riverbank, which remains sparsely populated and partially forested. The next four are near the highway that runs parallel to the river. The 13th location is a stretch along the road between Nethravathi and Aajukuri, and the final two are in the Kanyadi region, also close to the highway.
“Fifteen locations were identified, including eight along the river, four beside the highway, one on the road connecting Nethravathi to Aajukuri, and two in the Kanyadi area,” said an officer who was part of the inspection.
{{/usCountry}}“Fifteen locations were identified, including eight along the river, four beside the highway, one on the road connecting Nethravathi to Aajukuri, and two in the Kanyadi area,” said an officer who was part of the inspection.
{{/usCountry}}“These are the places he claims were used for illegal burials and cremations during his time as a sanitation worker in the area,” an SIT officer stated. “His allegations, if verified, could open up a wider investigation into unreported crimes.”
Senior officials clarified that Monday’s inspection was not part of the formal exhumation process. Instead, it served as a preliminary verification exercise to assess the accuracy of the locations identified by the informant.
“This is not an exhumation but a proof of concept to test whether the details given by the whistle-blower correspond to real locations,” said a senior member of the SIT, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Only after corroborating these spots will the actual exhumation process be considered.”
“The complainant had been brought to the SIT office in Belthangady and later taken to the forested area beside the river under police escort,” the officer confirmed. “He had earlier appeared before the SIT team for two consecutive days at the PWD Inspection Bungalow in Mallikatte, Mangaluru, where his statement was recorded.”
According to officers, the testimonies were videographed as part of the documentation process. SIT chief Pronab Mohanty, Director General of Police (Internal Security Division), had also participated in the questioning of the complainant on Sunday. He also joined the on-ground team to oversee the inspection and review the progress of the inquiry.
To secure the sites and prevent any disturbance or tampering, the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) has been deployed across all 15 locations, officers said. Investigators plan to bring in forensic experts to examine the marked sites in the coming days.
According to the officials, the former sanitation worker had first approached the police earlier this month with claims that he had been forced to dispose of bodies by unidentified individuals over a 16-year period. He alleged that many of the deceased were women and minors, some showing signs of sexual violence or physical assault.
The SIT was constituted by the state government to probe serious allegations of mass murder, sexual assault, and clandestine burials in Dharmasthala, reportedly from 1998 till 2014.
“This investigation is still at an early stage,” a senior officer said. “We are verifying every detail provided, and no conclusion has been drawn yet. The locations will be protected until a thorough forensic assessment is done.”
The SIT has not disclosed whether further exhumations will be carried out immediately, but officers say preliminary paperwork and terrain surveys were being planned before any excavation begins.
With inputs from PTI