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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged Dharmasthala mass burial case has set up a hotline to receive information from the public that could aid the ongoing investigation. It is based at the temporary SIT office located in Kadri Mallikatte, Mangaluru.
The SIT can be contacted via phone at 0824-2005301, WhatsApp at 8277986369, or email at sitdps@ksp.gov.in.
The SIT was constituted on July 19 by the Karnataka government following serious allegations made by a former sanitation worker. The complainant claimed that between 1995 and 2014, he was instructed by superiors to secretly bury the bodies of several individuals, including women and children. He later handed over skeletal remains to the police, which he claimed were recovered from one of the burial sites. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered on July 4.
The investigation is being led by Director General of Police (DGP) Pronab Mohanty, head of the Internal Security Division and Cyber Command. He was appointed after the complainant’s legal team requested an officer capable of conducting an impartial probe. The SIT has since begun exhumation efforts at the sites identified by the complainant.
On the second day of exhumation, July 30, no human remains were found at four of the identified locations – spots 2, 3, 4, and 5. The operation was conducted under challenging conditions, including heavy rain and difficult terrain near the Netravati River, and was directly supervised by SIT chief Pronab Mohanty. The team excavated to the depths specified by the complainant but has yet to uncover any human remains.
Read our entire coverage on Dharmasthala mass burial here.