Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Monday that the SIT (Special Investigation Team), which is probing allegations of "multiple murders, rapes and burials" in the temple town of Dharmasthala, is likely to submit its report by the end of October. He noted, however, that it remains to be seen whether the SIT report will be a final or an interim one.
"The Special Investigation Team has said that they would give the report in October. They might probably give it before October 31 or plus or minus two days, they may give the report. We have told them to report comprehensively and submit the final report. They have said that they will probably complete the work in October," said Parameshwara.
Speaking to the media, he said that the SIT had indicated the report would be submitted after receiving the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports, chemical analysis, and other findings.
"Because the bones that were gathered should be subjected to chemical analysis and concluded. After completing all this, they (SIT) have said that they will submit the report. Probably the report is expected by the end of this month," he added.
When asked whether all information regarding the probe would be in one report, the Home Minister reiterated that it remains to be seen if the SIT will submit the final report or an interim report containing all the major information from the investigation.
The controversy erupted after a complainant, later identified as CN Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed to have buried a number of bodies—including those of women showing signs of sexual assault—in Dharmasthala over a two-decade period, with implications pointing towards the local temple administrators.
The state government-formed SIT, which is probing the charges, has conducted excavations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites. The SIT recently recovered further skeletal remains during a search operation in the Banglegudde forest area near the Nethravathi bathing ghat.
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