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A special investigation team has told a court in Karnataka that the allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala were founded on false information and deliberate misrepresentation by six individuals.
The findings were submitted in a preliminary report filed before the court, which states that Dharmasthala authorities have been given a clean chit at this stage of the investigation.
According to the special investigation team (SIT), the six accused are Chinnayya, Mahesh Shetty Timarodi, Girish Mattannanavar, Vittal Gowda, T Jayanth and Sujata Bhatt. The report details their role and involvement in what the SIT said was a coordinated effort to construct false allegations.
In its findings, the SIT said Chinnayya was promised money to give false statements
regarding the burial of unidentified bodies, including victims of alleged sexual assault, and that a video of his statement was recorded. Investigators said he also produced a human skull claiming it was recovered from a burial site, but this was found to be untrue. He has been arrested, they said.
The SIT said Mahesh Shetty Timarodi is alleged to have hosted the meetings where the planning took place. It has accused him of encouraging false complaints against Dharmasthala and of helping create a narrative involving a missing girl to support the allegations. The report describes him as playing a central role in coordinating the group’s activities.
Girish Mattannanavar procured a skull from Bangle Gudde through Vittal Gowda and kept it in a security guard room in Bengaluru, the SIT said. He later handed it over to T Jayanth to be taken to Delhi, it said.
As per the report, the accused attempted to submit the skull as evidence before the Supreme Court and later brought it back to Timarodi’s residence. He also allegedly gave money to Chinnayya for making false statements, it states.
Gowda and Jayanth, the SIT said, are alleged to have facilitated the movement of the skull and participated in the meetings. It said Gowda took the skull to the meeting at Timarodi’s house, while Jayanth transported it to Delhi by train and took part in planning the allegations.
The SIT further said Sujata Bhatt, meanwhile, filed a complaint claiming her daughter was missing. It said the complaint was filed on the suggestion of Timarodi and others, and that she contributed to constructing the allegations against Dharmasthala.
The SIT has clarified that the findings are based only on its preliminary investigation. The final report has not yet been filed and some technical evidence is still awaited. It told the court that some of the accused have not been cooperating with the probe and sought additional time to complete it.
