Dharmasthala burials: Advocate accuses SI of coercing complainant into taking back allegations

The advocate representing a 50-year-old sanitation worker, who has complained of being forced to bury many bodies in Dharmasthala a decade ago, has accused a Sub-Inspector in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of coercing him to retract his complaint.

In a mail addressed to the SIT office and a few SIT officers, advocate Ananya Gowda claimed that her client has confided that he was threatened by Sub-Inspector Manjunath Gowda in the SIT camp office at Belthangady on August 1.

The Sub-Inspector threatened the complainant about dire consequences that the whistleblower will have to face owing to the complaint filed by him. The police officer added that the complainant will have to spend more time in the prison and that the police will take him in their custody soon, the advocate alleged.

After these threats, the advocate alleged, the Sub-Inspector told the complainant to make a statement on camera to retract, and disown his complaint. He was told to implicate unknown persons as responsible for his complaint. The SI recorded the statement coerced out of the complainant on his mobile phone, the advocate alleged.

The advocate said they (team of advocates) were shocked over the conduct of Sub-Inspector Manjunath Gowda. Seeking immediate exclusion or removal of Mr. Gowda from the investigation, the advocate said the step is necessary to allow the complainant to speak freely and without fear during the ongoing investigation.

The SIT is yet to react to the allegation.

On August 2, the SIT dug up site numbers 9 to 12 in Dharmasthala.

The complainant has shown 13 sites near the bathing ghat where he claims to have buried bodies.

The SIT seized about 15 bones from site number 6, but did not find skeletal remains in the remaining seven sites that had been dug up till August 1.

The digging is being done in the presence of Assistant Commissioner, Puttur, Stella Varghese, forensic doctors and scene-of-crime officers.