Last Updated on August 23, 2025 by Nyayik Vigyan
Mangaluru: In a major development in the Dharmasthala mass burial case, the Belthangady court on Saturday remanded the complainant witness to the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for ten days.
Following the court order, police escorted the witness from the premises to the SIT office in Belthangady. SIT Superintendents of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama and C.A. Simon were also present during the transfer. Officials confirmed that the witness will undergo further questioning related to the ongoing investigation.
According to case sources, the complainant had earlier alleged that he personally exhumed one of the bodies buried in the village and presented a human skull as evidence. However, during interrogation, he was unable to clearly specify the exact location from which the skull was recovered.
Investigators grilled him until late Friday night, during which he reportedly admitted that the skull he produced was not connected to the body he claimed to have buried. Following this revelation, SIT officers decided to take him into custody.
Unlike earlier instances where he was permitted to leave with his legal counsel after questioning, this time officials kept him in their custody overnight. On Saturday morning, he was taken for a medical check-up before being produced in court.
So far, the SIT has carried out exhumation work at 17 of the 18 identified sites in Dharmasthala village, as pointed out by the complainant witness. Human remains have been unearthed at one of the excavated sites, and bones were also found on the surface at another location. All collected remains have been forwarded to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for detailed scientific analysis. The investigation report is still awaited.
