SIT Files Final Report on Dharmasthala Burials, Calls Allegations Baseless
The Karnataka Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) has concluded its probe into alleged secret burials at the temple town of Dharmasthala, filing a final report that states the accusations were false. The report was submitted to a magistrate's court in Dakshina Kannada on Wednesday.
Filed under Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, the report indicates that the allegations made by former sanitation worker C N Chinnaiah were found to be without merit. This section allows the court to consider perjury proceedings against the complainant. The SIT source confirmed that the report spans over 7,000 pages, detailing the investigation's efforts to verify Chinnaiah's claims of burying dozens of bodies between 1995 and 2014.
Chinnaiah had alleged he was forced to dispose of bodies from murders committed in the temple town. Based on his claims, the Dharmasthala police filed an FIR on July 4, 2025. The Karnataka government formed an SIT on July 19, led by DGP-rank officer Pranab Mohanty. After a month-long search, no evidence was found to support the allegations, leading to Chinnaiah's arrest on August 23, 2025, for providing false information.
The SIT further revealed that a skull Chinnaiah presented as evidence belonged to a teenage girl raped and murdered in 2012. That case had been closed without any convictions. Investigators named Chinnaiah as the sole accused for providing false information, and indicated that activists Mahesh Thimarody, Jayanth T, Vittal Gowda, and former police official Girish Mattanavar were allegedly part of a conspiracy to target the temple administrators and its 'dharmadhikari' Veerendra Heggade, a Rajya Sabha MP.
The search for remains at 13 locations identified by Chinnaiah yielded only bones from an unrelated suicide. No mass graves or other evidence were found. The SIT concluded that the allegations were part of a misinformation campaign and recommended legal action against the complainant.
