Mangaluru, Aug 30: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing allegations of multiple rapes, murders, and burials in Dharmasthala spanning the past two decades, on Saturday took arrested witness-complainant C. N. Chinnaiah to undisclosed locations for a spot mahazar, police sources confirmed.
According to district police sources, Chinnaiah was taken to Bengaluru in connection with claims that he had obtained a human skull there. The SIT escorted him under tight security around 6 a.m. to conduct mahazars at sites linked to his earlier statements. Officials are also said to have seized documents during the exercise.
However, there has been no official confirmation regarding the exact locations visited. “The process was carried out early in the morning in view of security concerns. Details of the places and documents cannot be disclosed at this stage,” a source familiar with the investigation said.
The case had sparked controversy after Chinnaiah, initially the complainant and later arrested on charges of perjury, alleged that several bodies—including those of women showing signs of sexual assault—were buried in Dharmasthala over the years, with implications pointing towards the temple administration. The BJP had staged protests against what it termed an attempt to target the temple.
Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar had warned of strict action if the allegations proved false. Meanwhile, Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari (hereditary administrator) of the temple, welcomed the government’s decision to constitute the SIT.
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