Mangaluru, 16 June

Four members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations of murders, rapes and illegal burials in Dharmasthala were injured after their vehicle overturned in Dakshina Kannada district on Tuesday.

The accident occurred on the Charmadi ghat road when the multi-utility vehicle carrying the officers was travelling from the SIT office in Belthangady to Chikkamagaluru, police said.

The team was on its way to meet Chikkamagaluru Superintendent of Police and Investigating Officer Jitendra Kumar Dayama as part of the probe into allegations of suspicious deaths and illegal burials in the temple town.

According to preliminary information, the vehicle veered off the road, hit an embankment and overturned, causing extensive damage to the car.

All four were rushed to a nearby hospital and are reported to be in a stable condition.

A case has been registered at the Belthangady Traffic Police Station

The SIT was constituted by the state government after a man, later identified as CN Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, alleged that he had buried several bodies in Dharmasthala over two decades. Excavations atlocations identified by him later led to the discovery of skeletal remains at two sites.