Mangaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday produced the complainant witness in the Dharmasthala mass burial case before the Belthangady court after taking him into custody.

According to sources, the witness had earlier claimed to have exhumed one of the buried bodies and produced a human skull, allegedly belonging to it. However, during interrogation, he failed to clarify where the skull had been recovered from.

After prolonged questioning on Friday night, the witness reportedly admitted that the skull he submitted did not belong to the body he had buried. Following this revelation, SIT officials placed him under custody, unlike in previous instances when he was allowed to leave with his legal team.

The witness underwent a medical examination on Saturday morning before being produced in court.

Meanwhile, the SIT has so far carried out exhumations in 17 of the 18 sites identified in Dharmasthala village. Human remains were recovered from one site and skeletal fragments from the surface of another. These have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for analysis, with the report awaited.

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Latur (PTI): A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an 18-year-old man in Latur, leading to the arrest of the main accused and owners of two cafes where the crime occurred on December 4, police said on Saturday.

Police traced the girl within hours of registering the complaint. The accused, identified as Rihan Gulab Shaikh, was arrested based on the girl's complaint. Two others are owners of two cafes where the crime occurred, police said.

 

Police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), POCSO Act, and the Prevention of Atrocities Act, an official said.