Overview

• Search operations on September 17–18 recovered several skulls and numerous bones lying on the forest floor at Banglegudde, with SIT yet to officially confirm an exact count reported variously by local outlets.
• Investigators seized items from the site including a rope, a walking stick, a bottle suspected to contain poison, cloth and an identity card linked by relatives to a man reported missing from Kodagu in 2017.
• All biological and material samples have been sent for forensic examination in Bengaluru to assess identity, time since death and any indications of cause.
• The site work followed statements from witness Vittal Gowda and scrutiny of a skull earlier produced by complainant C.N. Chinnaiah, who is now in custody after prosecutors said forensic findings contradicted his claims.
• The Karnataka High Court adjourned to September 26 a plea seeking wider excavations, telling petitioners to submit independent proof beyond Chinnaiah’s statements, as investigators continue operations and related cases, including one against activist Mahesh Shetty.