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SIT chief DGP Pronab Mohanty chairs marathon meeting on Dharmasthala probe

AnyFans 2025-09-18

By News Karnataka

Mangaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations of illegal burials and suspicious deaths in Dharmasthala held a marathon meeting on Sunday under the chairmanship of Director General of Police (DGP) Pronab Mohanty to chalk out its next course of investigation.

High-level review

According to SIT sources, Mohanty visited the SIT office and conducted a high-level review meeting with Chief Investigation Officer Jeetendra Dayama, SP C A Simon, and other senior officials.

The DGP scrutinised the progress of the probe, inspected documents and evidence collected so far, and reviewed the financial aspects of the SIT’s functioning. He reportedly discussed the future direction of the investigation, including expanding its scope to new complaints.

Focus on past unnatural deaths

The meeting examined in detail the complaint filed by Mahesh Shetty Timarodi of the Rashtriya Hindu Jagarana Vedike, who raised suspicions about four unnatural deaths that occurred in various lodgings in Dharmasthala between 2006 and 2010. Mohanty obtained feedback from his team before taking a decision on whether to probe these cases further.

Meanwhile, Timarodi alleged that “vested interests” were trying to weaken the SIT’s work.

Complaint against activist

In a parallel development, Venkappa Kotian filed a complaint with Belthangady police against activist Snehamayi Krishna. Recently, Krishna had accused Vittal Gowda, the maternal uncle of Soujanya, of involvement in her 2012 murder.

Kotian alleged that Krishna first informed police about filing the complaint and later issued statements to the media, which he claimed were made with malicious intent to derail the ongoing campaign seeking justice for Soujanya.

Kotian further suspected that Krishna was influenced by unknown individuals and urged police to summon him for questioning to identify those behind the allegations.

With SIT chief Mohanty directly steering the probe and fresh complaints surfacing, the Dharmasthala investigation is set to widen its scope. However, allegations of interference and attempts to derail the campaign continue to complicate the high-stakes inquiry.