‘How many such cases has Dharmasthala case probe officer handled?’ SC Adv.KV Dhananjay questions
Bengaluru: Supreme Court Advocate K V Dhananjay has raised serious concerns about the qualifications of the police officer appointed to investigate the Dharmasthala mass burial case complaint, questioning how many rape, murder, and body-exhumation cases the officer has handled in the past. “Does this officer possess the expertise required for a case of this scale and sensitivity, which the police department claims?” he asked.
In a press release, Dhananjay remarked that the alleged incident in Dharmasthala, where hundreds of rape and murder victims are said to have been buried, is unprecedented in the past 100 years of Indian judicial history. The officer appointed to lead the investigation is reportedly around 29 years old and serves as a Sub-Inspector at the Dharmasthala police station.
“How many similar cases involving rape, murder, and exhumation has this officer solved? Does the police department officially state that this officer is qualified for a case of this nature?” he reiterated.
Dhananjay stressed that if the government genuinely cares about public concern, it must issue a clear statement about the credentials of the appointed investigation officer. Only after this clarification should discussions on the investigation’s progress continue, he asserted.
The advocate also provided a timeline of developments in the case, the complainant’s legal team publicly announced their intent to file a complaint on June 22, 2025. The complaint was submitted to the Dakshina Kannada police on July 3. That very night, a revised version of the complaint was made public. The FIR was officially registered on July 4, and its updated version was also released to the public, Dhananjay said.
He further pointed out that even in Bengaluru, where murder investigations are handled by experienced officers, only 9 out of every 100 cases result in conviction. His team studied judgments from Bengaluru’s Sessions Courts over the past seven years and concluded that conviction rates remain alarmingly low despite expertise, raising concerns over entrusting such a grave case to a relatively junior officer.
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Bangladesh court sentences Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in corruption cases
Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.
The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.
Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.
Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.
The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.
According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
