Mangaluru: A court in Karnataka’s Mangaluru district on Saturday remanded the complainant, Chinnaiah, known as the “Mask Man”, to 14 days of judicial custody. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) presented him before the court earlier in the day.
Authorities said the arrested complainant would be shifted to the Shivamogga district prison in view of safety and security concerns.
Sources added that the SIT has decided to seek his custody again whenever required during the course of the investigation.
Following the orders, the SIT authorities took him to Shivamogga prison. Sources stated that Earlier, even as the SIT sought 10 days custody, the court on September 3 has extended SIT custody till September 6.
On July 11, the complainant claimed that he had been forced to bury the bodies of women and girls who were raped and murdered in Dharmasthala, and recorded his statement.
He requested that the bodies be exhumed in his presence and alleged that the victims bore clear signs of sexual assault.
In addition, the whistleblower reportedly submitted a skull, allegedly recovered from one of the burial sites, to the SIT.
He was given protection under the Witness Protection Act, and facilities were extended.
However, Chinnaiah was subsequently arrested later for misguiding the SIT authorities in the case.
The authorities are awaiting the FSL and DNA analysis reports of the sand samples collected from the 17 excavated sites.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara stated that, due to the nature of the soil at the burial spots, human bones would dissolve, and this will be confirmed through the lab reports. He added that the major phase of the investigation will commence thereafter, based on the findings.
The SIT is also focusing on cracking the mystery surrounding the skull presented to the authorities through the court by Chinnaiah as first piece of evidence to corroborate with his charges. Sources stated that Chinnaiah has claimed that he had got the skull with the help of activists and activists and YouTubers are being grilled by the SIT over the matter.
The SIT is questioning activists Girish Mattennavar, T. Jayanth, and YouTuber Sameer, who raised their voices against temple authorities and made direct allegations targeting the Dharmadhikari.
In addition, the SIT is questioning Sujatha Bhat, a complainant who initially claimed that her daughter, Ananya Bhat, an MBBS student, had gone missing under suspicious circumstances.
She later retracted her statement, saying she had no daughter, before going on to claim that she was blackmailed into making the allegation.
The SIT is also preparing to question Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi and issued notice to Kerala YouTuber Manaf to appear for questioning with electronic gadgets in connection with the case.
The case has taken political turn with BJP, JD (S) and the ruling Congress party leaders organizing rallies to Dharmasthala expressing their solidarity with the temple management and Dharmadhikari, BJP Rajya Sabha member Veerendra Heggade.
In another development, a group of progressive woman activists have written a letter to senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, seeking her interference in the matter and appealed to contain the Congress leaders who are supporting the temple authorities.
Karnataka Deputy CM and state unit Congress president D.K. Shivakumar has openly stated that there is a big conspiracy against temple town Dharmasthala and those indulging in conspiracy would not be spared.
Also, a delegation of religious seers have recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and submitted a memorandum demanding the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The delegation claimed that HM Amit Shah stated to them that he is observing the developments closely and initiate action soon.
(IANS)
