Dharmasthala case: SIT asked to submit probe report by October end, says Home Minister Parameshwara

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Monday (October 27, 2025) said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the alleged mysterious deaths and burials in Dharmasthala has been asked to submit final report at the earliest.

“The SIT has said that it would submit the final report in October. They might submit the report before October 31 or there could be a delay by a day or two,” the Home Minister told presspersons here.

He said that the SIT has informed that the final report would include the analysis by the Forensic Science Laboratory of the bones found during excavation as well as a chemical analysis report.

“Because the bones that were gathered should be subjected to chemical analysis and concluded. After completing all this, they (SIT) have said that they will submit the report. Probably the report is expected by the end of this month,” he added.

Background

A controversy erupted after a complainant, later identified as C.N. Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed burying a number of bodies, including those of women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over a period of past two decades, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple.

The SIT, formed by the state government, which is probing charges, has conducted excavations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites.

Recently, the SIT again recovered some skeletal remains during a search operation in the Banglegudde forest area near the Nethravathi bathing ghat.

(With inputs from PTI)