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SIT Arrests Dharmasthala Whistleblower on Perjury and False-Evidence Charges

Investigators cite forensic contradictions over presented remains as grounds for action.

People gather near a site of an alleged burial related to the Dharmasthala mass burial case, at Dharmasthala, in Dakshina Kannada district.
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,
Security personnel with the whistleblower, who claims to have been coerced into burying and cremating bodies of women and minors, near a site of an alleged burial related to the Dharmasthala mass burial case, at Dharmasthala, in Dakshina Kannada district,
The temple town of Dharmasthala drew focus last month after a former sanitation worker alleged in a police complaint on July 3 that he had buried bodies of multiple women who were allegedly raped and murdered.

Overview

  • The former sanitation worker was interrogated overnight by SIT chief Pranab Mohanty’s team and had his witness protection withdrawn before his arrest.
  • Officials say forensic reports found the skull and bones he produced were male, contradicting his sworn statement that they belonged to a woman.
  • Police sources allege the skull he submitted was fabricated or not from the alleged sites, leading to charges of furnishing false evidence in addition to perjury.
  • The SIT has dug at roughly 15–17 locations and recovered limited human material at two spots, with further DNA and lab analysis in Bengaluru still pending.
  • Sujatha Bhat, whose ‘missing daughter’ account intensified public focus on the case, retracted her claims and was taken into SIT custody for questioning, as the BJP launched a ‘dharma yuddha’ agitation and activist Mahesh Shetty Thimarody was detained in a separate FIR.