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Bengaluru, Nov 20 (IANS) The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sensational mass grave case at the Dharmasthala Hindu pilgrimage site in Karnataka is going to file a 4,000-page chargesheet in which the activists who made the allegations will be named as accused, SIT sources have confirmed.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, speaking in Bengaluru on Thursday, confirmed the approval to file the charge sheet.
He said, “We have given permission to the SIT to file the charge sheet in the Dharamsthal case. It is up to the SIT as to when it will file it. They have to file it within 90 days of the FIR and they will do so.”
Refusing to share details of the investigation report, he said that once the charge sheet is filed, the information will be placed before the government. He said that in time the facts will become clear and the SIT will give information to the government, as it has been set up by the state.
Parameshwara said the matter was discussed in detail in the last session. He said that the government should present the information in the House.
“Once the report is submitted, they will know the details of what conspiracy took place and who was responsible, and the findings will be explained in the Legislature during the coming winter session,” the Home Minister said.
According to available information, SIT officer Jitendra Kumar Dayama is likely to file the charge sheet before the Belthangady JMFC court on Thursday.
Six people, including ‘mask man’ Chinnayya and activists, have been named in the report, with SIT officials concluding that the complainant misled the authorities after a lengthy interrogation in August.
The charge sheet includes Chinnaiah’s statement, details of excavations at over 17 sites, interrogations conducted during the investigation and interrogation of people who were in contact with him. Supplementary material including photographs, videos and statements has also been added to the charge sheet.
The Congress-led government on Wednesday called a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Parameshwara, state police chief, IGP MA Saleem and SIT chief Pronab Mohanty regarding the progress of the case.
The case gained national attention after the formation of the SIT after Chinnaiah claimed in July this year that he was forced to bury the bodies of women and girls who were allegedly raped and murdered in the village.
Excavations in August recovered a male skeleton and human bones, which were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for analysis.
He requested that the bodies be exhumed in his presence, and the bodies were found without clothing or undergarments and with injuries consistent with violent sexual abuse.
These revelations have created a stir throughout Karnataka.
Furthermore, the arrested whistleblower had also reportedly handed over a skull, which was reportedly recovered from a burial site.
After the revelations he was given police protection and facilities under the Witness Protection Act.
Following the claims, a retired Supreme Court judge and several activists demanded a Supreme Court or High Court monitored SIT investigation into the shrine killings.
On August 23, the SIT arrested the unidentified complainant, known as the Mask Man, for giving false information in the Dharamsthal case. SIT officials interrogated him for more than fifteen hours and concluded that he had misled the officers.
On August 7, Parameshwara had confirmed that the SIT had recovered a male skeleton and several human bones from the identified locations. These remains were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory.
He then added, “The unidentified complainant claimed that he had buried bodies at 13 locations. Based on his disclosure, the SIT excavated the sites. A male skeleton was recovered at the sixth point, and nothing has been found so far at the 13th point. Additionally, several bones were recovered from a new location.”
He said that all these findings are being investigated and the remains have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory.
–IANS
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