DHARMASTHALA, 28 JULY

A team of police officials from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the State government to probe the alleged mass burial sites in Dharmasthala began site inspections on Monday, police said.

Accompanied by land records officials, local police and district authorities, the SIT visited multiple locations, including the bathing ghats of the Nethravathi, at the entrance of Dharmasthala.

The SIT, along with Kadaba Tahsildar Prabhakara Khajure, conducted a preliminary site inspection at the Nethravathi riverbank, based on complaints lodged by local groups alleging that parts of the land may have been used for mass burials.

The inspection was ordered by Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Darshan HV after the matter gained local and media attention.

The complaint alleged that skeletal remains could be found beneath a portion of the ghat area.  Past excavations, however, did not find any remains, police said, adding that a detailed investigation involving forensic experts will be conducted in the coming days. The SIT was constituted by the state government to probe allegations of mass murder, sexual assault, and burials in Dharmasthala over two decades.