SIT winds up exhumation in Dharmasthala, all eyes on Parameshwara’s statement in Assembly on Monday

MANGALURU: After 15 days of exhumation and finding no human remains at 17 locations, the special investigation team probing the alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala on Saturday wound up the exercise. The exhumation was taken up on July 29 a day after the anonymous complainant identified 13 locations near the Nethravathi bathing ghat.

The SIT officials grilled the masked anonymous complainant for several hours at the office on Saturday and are likely to conduct an examination at the spot from where he had reportedly retrieved a skull which he had presented before a court. The identity of the deceased still remains unclear.

The SIT is expected to submit a report on the exhumations carried out so far nd Home Minister G Parameshwara is likely to provide an official response on the progress of the investigation in the Assembly on Monday.

On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has said that a massive conspiracy is being hatched to destroy the legacy of Dharmasthala as the allegations have surfaced over the mass burial of human bodies in the region.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he said, “I believe in Dharmasthala and its administrative board. The Home Minister will explain the reasons for forming an SIT”. Later, he said, “A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant’.

The state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter related to alleged incidents of mass murder, mass rape, and mass burial in Dharmasthala town. The development follows a letter from the Karnataka State Women’s Commission (KSWC) requesting that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah form an SIT under the leadership of senior police officials to investigate the matter.

In their letter, the KSWC cited a media report which consisted of a statement from a person who had claimed that bodies were buried in the past 20 years in the region.