The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the allegation of mass burials in Karnatala’s Dharmasthala carried out searches at the residence of activist Mahesh Shetty Thimarody in Ujire on Tuesday.
The SIT move came days after the arrest of C.N. Chinnaiah, the complainant-witness in the case, on charges of perjury.
According to officials, Thimarody had sheltered Chinnaiah in his house for the last two months. The investigators are trying to gather information and potential evidence from his house that could help in the wider probe it has launched in the case.
According to reports, Chinnaiah had accompanied the SIT officials during the raids.
Thimarody, who is the president of Rashtriya Hindu Jagaran Vedike, was arrested recently for allegedly making derogatory remarks against BJP's national general secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh. He is currently out on bail.
Chinnaiah, whose identity remained unknown till his arrest on August 23, had been sent to five days’ police custody.
A former sanitation worker, Chinnaiah claimed he had worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, during which he was allegedly forced to bury several bodies, including those of women and minors. He alleged that some of the victims showed signs of sexual assault and had given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been carrying out excavations at multiple sites identified by the complainant. Skeletal remains were recovered from two locations.
However, during the investigations, the officials found inconsistencies in Chinnaiah’s statements, following which his arrest was registered.
“While giving a statement before the magistrate in Belthangady on July 11, the complainant had produced a skull and a few bones, claiming to be that of a woman he had burried. He had also claimed that the woman was sexually assaulted before death. However, forensic reports indicated that the skeletal remains produced by the complainant were that of a man,” an officials said.
