Site no. 13 No skeletal remains found during excavation

By Editor

Posted on August 13, 2025

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Site no. 13 No skeletal remains found during excavation

Belthangady : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) did not find any skeletal remains on Wednesday as it continued excavation at site no. 13 as part of the probe into alleged burials in Dharmasthala village, sources said.

After scanning the large plain area at site no. 13 using drone-mounted Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), the SIT began excavating the site using two earth movers on Tuesday and did not find any skeletal remains. It did not find any remains during the excavation on Wednesday either. The excavation was done in the presence of complainant and Puttur Sub Division AC Stella Varghese.

Meanwhile, Purandara Gowda, uncle of 2013 murder victim Soujanya, and Tukaram, a resident of the village, visited the SIT office in Belthangady on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Gowda and Mr. Tukaram said they informed SIT on August 6 that they had seen a person, similar to the complainant, and a few others burying bodies at Banglagudde in the period between 2003 and 2014. “The SIT Chief (Pronab Mohanty) asked me to file a complaint with the Dharmasthala police station. I met the SI at the Pangala cross and left the place. Later, I heard about the attack on YouTubers. On August 8, we filed the complaint at the Dharmasthala police station. This is when I got to know I was named accused no. 1 in the sou-motu case registered by the police over a clash between groups, following an attack on YouTubers,” Mr. Gowda told reporters.

Mr. Gowda said that both visited the office on Wednesday to enquire about the action taken on the complaint filed by them in Dharmasthala police station.

Meanwhile, the Dharmasthala police are investigating a petition given by Sujatha Bhat on July 15 requesting a probe into whether her daughter and medical student Ananya Bhat’s body was among those buried by the complainant. However, they have found no education records to prove that Ananya Bhat studied in medical colleges either in Mangaluru or Manipal.

Police said they are trying to reach out to Sujatha Bhat to gather more information about the petitioner and her daughter.