SIT submits Dharmasthala case report to K’taka govt

Belagavi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala case has submitted its investigation report to the Karnataka government on Wednesday.

The SIT has already filed a preliminary chargesheet in a local court in Mangaluru district.

Sources stated that the report has given a clean chit to the temple management and claims that the complainant, in collusion with certain activists, had conspired against the temple authorities.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that he has not read what is contained in the copy of the charge sheet.

“Whatever action has to be taken under the law will be taken by the government. Ultimately, the truth has come out. This conspiracy took place due to big differences between the BJP and the RSS,” he said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala case had filed a 3,900-page charge sheet against Chinnaiah, known as mask man, the complainant in the case, activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Girish Mattennavar, T. Jayanth, and Vittala Gowda, all activists, and Sujatha Bhat, before a Belthangady court in Dakshina Kannada on Nov 21.

They have been charged with giving false evidence, forgery and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

The Supreme Court on May 5, 2025, had rejected the public interest litigation plea filed by Chinniah seeking an investigation into the burial of many bodies in Dharmasthala village between 1995 and 2014.

Earlier, in a major development on July 11, Chinnaiah—then known as an unidentified complainant—appeared before a court in Mangaluru district and recorded his statement. He claimed that he had been forced to bury the bodies of women and girls who were raped and murdered in Dharmasthala.

He requested that the bodies be exhumed in his presence and alleged that the victims bore clear signs of sexual assault. According to him, the bodies were found without clothing or undergarments and had injuries consistent with violent sexual abuse.

These revelations sent shockwaves across Karnataka.

Following his claims, a retired Supreme Court judge and several activists demanded a Supreme Court– or High Court–monitored SIT probe into the alleged Dharmasthala murders, which may involve the deaths of multiple women, girls, and destitute men.

IANS