MANGALURU/BENGALURU: In a surprising twist in the alleged mass burials case in Karnataka’s Dharmasthala, the SIT arrested the complainant-witness Saturday after cops found inconsistencies in his statements during questioning.He was produced before a judicial magistrate’s court in Belthangady, and remanded in SIT custody until Sept 3.The whistleblower, who had accused influential figures of rapes, murders and secret burials carried out over the past two decades, was taken into custody following a marathon interrogation after SIT officers, led by DGP (internal security) Pronab Mohanty, found multiple inconsistencies in his statements and the documents he submitted.Although a section of the media identified the ‘whistleblower’ as C N Chinnayya alias Chenna, SIT officials did not confirm his identity. TOI could not independently verify his background. Based on the complainant’s allegations, investigators had dug up 17 sites in Dharmasthala village for evidence and found some skeletons and bones.A woman named Sujatha Bhat, who had earlier alleged her daughter was missing from Dharmasthala since 2003, also did a volte face in a YouTube interview Friday, saying she had made the claim after being prompted by activists Girish Mattannavar and T Jayanti following an alleged property dispute with the temple. Meanwhile, Rathnamma, divorced wife of the accused, claimed her ex-husband was a compulsive liar who might have fabricated the mass burial claim to make money. At Dharmasthala, temple head Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade welcomed the arrest. tnn
