The complainant (in face mask), who claimed to have buried the bodies of several murder and rape victims in Dharmastala a decade ago, appears before the Belthangady court in on July 11, 2025.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Dakshina Kannada police have said that they will have to ascertain with the complainant his stand on whether there was a need to change the Investigation Officer (IO) or if there was a need to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged case of burial of dead bodies in Dharmasthala, before taking a decsion on the same.
A statement by the police late on Saturday (July 12, 2025), said that some sections of people have been asking to change the IO or hand over the investigation into the case to the SIT in the interest of the public. Police will also have to ascertain with the advocates representing the complainant whether they were aware of the demand.
“Some statements made by the advocates of the complainant to the media on July 11 are factually wrong,” the statement said without elaborating.
Youtuber booked
Meanwhile, Dharmasthala police on July 11 booked a case against M.D. Sameer, a Youtuber, under Sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, if rioting be committed; if not committed), 240 (providing false information), 353 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility) of BNS (Crime No. 42/2025).
In a statement on July 12, police charged the Youtuber with providing false and fictitious information on the burial case to the public through his channel. The extra information given by the Youtuber, in addition to what the complainant had stated in his complaint and before the court, were false and fictitious, the statement said.
Background of case
It may be mentioned here that the complainant, who claims to have buried many bodies of alleged murder and rape victims in the jurisdiction of Dharmasthala village a decade ago, produced before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class, Belthangady court, on July 11 some of the skeletal remains of the bodies that he claimed to have exhumed on his own. He also gave a statement before the Magistrate. Police seized the body parts in front of the advocates representing the complainant and ‘panch’ witnesses.
The complainant, who claims to have worked as a sanitary worker in Dharmastala between 1995 and December 2014, filed a complaint on July 3, stating that he was forced to bury several bodies.
After taking permission of the court, the Dharmastala police registered a case for offence under section 211 (a) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on July 4.
As the complainant has sought anonymity, police have not disclosed his details. The protection of the complainant was approved by the competent authority in the district on July 10.
Published – July 13, 2025 01:27 pm IST