Belthangady: Sowjanya Movement activist Mahesh Shetty Timarodi visited the office of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala mass burial case here and filed a complaint on Thursday night alleging that four unidentified people had died under suspicious circumstances in various lodges in Dharmasthala village between 2006 and 2010.

Timarodi told the officers that there was also a suspicion of the deaths, which occurred in lodges named ‘Gayathri’, ‘Sharavathi’ and ‘Vaishali’, being cases of murder. The Gram Panchayat was forced to declare the corpses to be unidentified and close the case hurriedly, he told the SIT, asking the officers to file an FIR and investigate the matter.

The activist has said in the complaint that only unnatural death reports (UDR) were filed in relation to the deaths. Although the deaths were suspected either murders or suicides, the failure on the part of the officials to file an FIR has only aggravated suspicion regarding the cause for the deaths, he has added.

Timarodi is said to have filed the complaint on Thursday night, based on information from documents accessed using the RTI Act.

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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.

On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.

In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.

"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.

He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.

The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.

Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."

It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.

"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.

It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.

The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.

The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.

TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.

The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.

Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases. 

Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.

In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.