The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations of multiple burials at Dharmasthala in Karnataka has issued summons to three activists —Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, T Jayanth, and Girish Mattannavar — requiring them to appear on Monday. Police sources indicated that failure to comply will result in arrest warrants, as the investigation deepens into potential perjury and evidence tampering. A senior SIT official stated that the investigation has reached a decisive stage and is nearing completion.
The matter began in August 2025 when Chinnaiah— a former temple sanitation worker from 1995 to 2014, complained about the secret burial of more than 200 unidentified dead bodies on temple grounds from 2002 to 2014.
He said that the dead bodies comprised victims of accidents, homicide, and unexplained deaths and were buried in a manner that bypassed autopsy and police reports to hide anomalies.
Chinnaiah had exhibited a human skull as proof, stating that it was unearthed at the site. This kindled outrage among the temple's millions of yearly worshipers and led the state government to constitute an SIT headed by Pronab Mohanty.
Investigations revealed Chinnaiah’s close ties to the three summoned activists, all linked to the ongoing Justice for Sowjanya campaign—a decade-long push for a resolution in the 2012 rape and murder of the teenager Sowjanya in Udupi.
Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, a prominent figure in the campaign, provided shelter to Chinnaiah at his Ujire residence days before the complaint. SIT searches there on August 26th yielded 44 items, including laptops containing 25 videos of Chinnaiah’s media interactions, and seized phones containing 21 additional recordings. Thimarody, who was externed from Raichur district in September for unrelated charges including assault on a journalist, faces questions over his role in amplifying the allegations alongside Mattannavar.
T Jayanth, a Bengaluru-based activist and Thimarody associate, hosted Chinnaiah for three days post-arrest and escorted him to Delhi with the skull, accompanied by perjury-accused Sujatha Bhatt and Mattannavar. Jayanth later admitted to the SIT that he acted on Mattannavar’s instructions, claiming no intent to conspire but readiness to face charges. He also filed a complaint alleging that in 2002-2003, there was an improper burial of a 15-year-old girl near Dharmasthala.
Girish Mattannavar, an erstwhile sub-inspector who was also the Sowjanya campaign coordinator, introduced Chinnaiah to Jayanth in April 2025 and directed logistics for transporting the skull. Questioned multiple times in September, Mattannavar has been accused in complaints of orchestrating a network to defame temple head D Veerendra Heggade.
Crucially, forensic analysis traced the skull to a medical research centre, undermining its evidentiary value and fuelling the ongoing perjury inquiries.
Also read: Dharmasthala case: Complainant Chinnaiah records statement
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