Sujatha Bhat’s lawyer urges for immediate arrest of Dharmasthala gram panchayat VP Shrinivas Rao
Dharmasthala: Advocate Manjunath N., lawyer representing Sujatha Bhat, the mother of MBBS student Ananya Bhat has called for the immediate arrest of Shrinivas Rao, Vice President of the Dharmasthala Gram Panchayat.
This comes hours after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala discovered suspected human remains on the third consecutive day of excavation. However, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not officially confirmed these findings yet.
In a press note issued on Thursday, the Manjunath N. stated that the claims made by Shrinivas Rao, that all burials were official and properly documented since 1980’s, have been disproved by today's findings.
The burial sites, discovered with the help of a whistleblower, were located in remote, hazardous terrain near the riverbank. According to the release, these are not locations any panchayat would use for official burials, especially if there was a chance that remains would need to be exhumed later for grieving relatives.
Manjunath further questioned how the panchayat could claim to escort families to such treacherous sites or maintain records of such burials, as Rao had previously stated. The whistleblower reportedly led the SIT to multiple hidden spots rather than to a single, designated burial ground.
“We demand the immediate arrest of Shrinivas Rao, Vice President of Dharmasthala Gram Panchayat, the moment human remains are recovered from these sites. Rao’s statements appear to be a calculated attempt to obstruct justice and normalize irregular burials that may have covered up criminal acts,” Manjunath added.
The lawyer also raised concerns about Rao’s role in what he described as a potential cover-up operation, questioning whether Rao was acting alone or on instructions from others. The release called for his interrogation, suggesting that he may have crucial information about the people involved in the alleged crimes.
Manjunath N. has also called upon the Karnataka Government to initiate a broader inquiry into all panchayat officials who may be linked to the issue, urging the public and media to demand transparency and accountability.
Thursday’s search began at 11:30 am and focused on the sixth burial site near the Netravati riverbank. Officials present included Puttur Sub-Divisional Officer Stella Varghese, Belthangady Tahsildar Prithvi Sanikem, a medical team from KMC Mangalore, forensic science experts, and other support staff.
So far, while five sites were dug on previous days with no significant findings, Thursday marked the first instance where suspected remains have surfaced.
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Delegation requests for Karnataka HC Bench in coastal districts, hands petition to Chief Justice
Udupi: A delegation of the High Court Bench Struggle Committee met and submitted a petition to the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru at the Circuit House urging the opening of a High Court Bench in the coastal belt as well as a Mobile High Court Bench in Mangaluru.
MLC and convener of the Committee Ivan D’Souza, who spoke to the Chief Justice on the occasion, explained that the people of the coastal belt find it difficult to travel to Bengaluru to fight a petition in the High Court. The problem only aggravated during monsoon. D’Souza added that there was a delay in clearing the cases of Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts, which was causing further inconvenience to the people.
The MLC, who pointed out that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also shown his preference for establishing a High Court Bench in the coastal region, requested for an approval to establish a Mobile High Court Bench first.
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Responding to this request, Chief Justice Bakhru assured to take action on the request as soon as possible.
The delegation included Mangalore Bar Association President Raghavendra HV, Dakshina Kannada Principal Government Pleader MP Noronha, General Secretary Sridhar H, Udupi Bar Association President Reynold Praveen Kumar, General Secretary Chandrashekhar Shetty, Vice-president Devadas V Shettigar and Brahmavar Bar Association President Kadoor Praveen Shetty.
