SIT, along with complainant, inspects spots of alleged burials near Dharmasthala

SIT, along with complainant, inspects spots of alleged burials near Dharmasthala

Mangalore Today News Network

Dharmasthala, July 29, 2025: As a large number of people assembled at the ghat, the complainant was taken to the end of the bathing ghat. After walking around the area for a while, the complainant led the personnel into the nearby forest area. Nearly two hours later, the complainant was brought to the Dharmasthala police station.

Around 4.30 p.m. the SIT personnel took the complainant for another round of identification of spots of alleged burials.

Drone shots

The team was led by Superintendent of Police Jithendra Kumar Dayama. Along with SIT personnel, the scene-of-crime officers and personnel from the revenue and forest departments had accompanied the complainant. A team of advocates representing the complainant also accompanied the SIT personnel. Drone camera shots of the spots were taken.

The complainant was taken to the spots after the SIT recorded his statement for two days—Saturday and Sunday— at the SIT camp office in Mangaluru.

Permission to exhume bodies

According to official sources, the inspection of the spots of burials was part of the process to obtain permission to exhume bodies. After completing the inspection, a report will be submitted to the jurisdictional revenue officer to seek permission to exhume bodies.

A former sanitation worker, who claimed to have worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, has claimed to have buried more than 100 bodies, including those related to murder and rape victims, in the jurisdiction of Dharmasthala village. The SIT, headed by Director General of Police Pronab Mohanty, is investigating the complaint registered at Dharmasthala police station.