Exhumation taken up at new spot near Dharmasthala after burial claims, nothing found

MANGALURU: After a break on Thursday, the special investigation team (SIT), which is probing the alleged mass burial case in Dharmasthala, on Friday took up exhumation at a fresh spot identified by the anonymous complainant, inside the Gonkratar forest near Boliyar on the Dharmasthala-Subrahmanya road.

Despite digging for hours amidst pouring rain, the SIT found no human remains at the 15th spot. The police are yet to take up exhumation at the 13th spot which is close to the Nethravathi dam. Though initially only 13 spots were marked, a 14th spot was marked after a human skeleton, suspected to be of a suicide victim, was found on a hill near the 13th spot.

The anonymous complainant had claimed that he had buried more bodies at other spots following which the SIT took up exhumation at the 15th spot on Friday. This place is about 1.5 km from the house of one Padmalatha, who was murdered in 1986. The CID had completed its investigation in the case and her relative Jayanth T is the second complainant in the alleged mass burial case.

Meanwhile, the anonymous complainant has sought police protection after the flareup at Pangala involving some YouTubers and a TV crew. He has made a written request through his lawyers to the SIT to provide him with a gunman. On Friday, the private car in which he was taken to the 15th spot was escorted by a police vehicle.