The Dharmasthala mass burial probe has taken a sensational twist after Sujata Bhat, whose testimony triggered the investigation, confessed that her claims were false. In an interview with YouTube channel InsightRush, Bhat admitted that she never had a daughter named Ananya Bhat — the young woman (her daughter) she had earlier alleged went missing from Dharmasthala in 2003.
She claimed she was persuaded by activists Girish Mattannavar, Jayanth T and others to file the complaint, motivated by a long-standing property dispute with the temple administration, as reported by The Hindu.
Her retraction contradicts her previous account, in which she said her daughter, an 18-year-old medical student, disappeared during a temple visit and that she herself was abducted and threatened when she attempted to investigate, reported The Hindustan Times.
Dharmasthala Whistleblower & SIT Probe
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Karnataka government to examine the explosive charges of murders, rapes, and mass burials, arrested a whistleblower in the case. On July 11, the complainant alleged that he had been coerced into burying the bodies of women and girls who were raped and killed in Dharmasthala, and he gave an official statement. He urged that the graves be reopened in his presence, claiming the victims showed visible signs of sexual violence.
The whistleblower also handed over a skull, said to have been retrieved from one such burial site, to the SIT. He was placed under the Witness Protection Act, but police sources later confirmed that his security cover has been withdrawn.
On August 7, State Home Minister Parameshwara announced that the SIT investigating the alleged mass grave case in Dharmasthala, Mangaluru district, had recovered a male skeleton along with human bones from identified burial grounds. These remains have been forwarded to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
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