Will skeletons tumble out? Exhumation process begins in Dharmasthala mass burial case
Police personnel at the office of the SIT constituted to probe the case related to the alleged mass burial in Dharmasthala of Dakshina Kannada district, in Mangaluru | PTI
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala mass burial case has begun the process of exhumation in the spots shown by the complainant witness.
According to reports, separate teams of scene-of-crime officers and forensic sciences laboratory personnel have also arrived at the site. The SIT is video recording the exhumation process.
A group of seven to eight labourers began digging in a forest area near the Netravathi River beside the Dharmasthala bathing ghat despite heavy rain on Tuesday, reported the Deccan Herald.
The case stems from a testimony of a former sanitation worker, whose identity remains undisclosed, that between 1995 and 2014, he was coerced into burying several bodies in Dharmasthalasome of which, he claimed, showed signs of sexual violence.
The Karnataka government on July 19 formed an SIT under Pronab Mohanty, Director General of Police (Internal Security Division), to probe the allegations of mass murder, sexual assault, and clandestine burials. Officers from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada districts have been deputed to the team.
On Monday, the SIT, along with the complainant, land records officials and district authorities, inspected multiple locations, including the bathing ghats of the Nethravati river at the entrance to Dharmasthala.
The team conducted a preliminary site inspection at the Nethravathi river bank after local people raised suspicion that parts of the land might have been used for mass burials.
The investigators have already held detailed discussions with local authorities and scrutinised reports of missing persons in the region. They also interacted with residents in and around Dharmasthala.
India