A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala case has discovered a skull, some skeletal remains, and pieces of clothing in the Banglegudda forest. A forensic team has collected soil samples, with the SIT continuing its investigation of the site.
Although the investigation had covered 17 locations the complainant had pointed out, nothing concrete had been found, prompting the team to conduct a DNA analysis on a small quantity of bones they had previously recovered.
A Dalit man and former sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple, alleged that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced under death threats to dispose of hundreds of bodies, many of which showed signs of sexual violence and brutal murders.
He had identified 15 possible burial sites. The first eight locations were allegedly along the Nethravathi River, while locations 9 to 12 were beside the highway near the river. The thirteenth was on the road connecting Nethravathi to Aajukuri, and the remaining two, 14 and 15, were in the Kanyadi area near the highway.
The SIT has been conducting exhumations at these sites, and partial human skeletal remains were previously found at the sixth burial site on July 31.
Apart from the main complainant, another individual, Sujatha Bhatt, alleged that her daughter, a medical student named Ananya Bhatt, had gone missing in 2003 while visiting the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple.
However, the SIT recently raised doubts about the very existence of Ananya, whose alleged disappearance had formed the basis of sensational charges. Investigators pressed Sujatha to produce a photograph of her missing daughter. When she did, suspicions deepened as inquiries indicated that Sujatha, who had lived in Ripponpete, Shivamogga, with one Prabhakar Baliga, never had children.
Following this, another individual, Jayant T, appeared before the Beltangady SIT office and submitted a complaint, claiming he had witnessed the illegal burial of a teenage girl.
Also read: SIT quizzes six in Dharmasthala case probe
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