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The complainant in the Dharmasthala mass burial case, a former sanitation worker, appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Mangaluru on Saturday, July 26 and was questioned for over five hours. The man recorded his statement before investigating officer Jitendra Kumar Dayama.
The complainant’s legal team had received a notice for questioning late on Friday night, July 25.
The SIT office has been set up at the PWD Inspection Bungalow (IB) in Mallikatte, Kadri, Mangaluru. Two rooms at the Inspectors’ Bungalow have been reserved for SIT operations.
On Friday, senior SIT officials, including DIG M N Anucheth and DySP Jitendra Kumar Dayama, arrived in Mangaluru and took over the case files from the Dakshina Kannada district police. The SIT will be reviewing land survey records and other relevant documents linked to the alleged burial sites.
The probe was launched based on the complaint of a former employee, a 48-year-old Dalit man, who alleged that he had buried bodies of several women and children upon instructions from his supervisors. This took place between 1995-2015, he alleged.
To prove his claims, the complainant had handed over skeletal remains allegedly exhumed from one of the alleged burial sites to the police. Based on the complaint, a case was registered on July 4.
An SIT was set up by the Karnataka government on July 19. The SIT is being led by DGP Pronab Mohanty, who heads the Internal Security Division and Cyber Command. Mohanty was appointed as the SIT chief after the whistleblower’s legal team urged the government, stating that he would ensure an impartial and independent investigation.