Dharmasthala mass burial case: Retired Justice Gopal Gowda demands SIT under judicial supervision
Bengaluru: Retired Supreme Court Justice Gopal Gowda has demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of a sitting or retired High Court/Supreme Court judge to probe the shocking allegations of mass rapes, murders, and body disposals in Dharmasthala village of Belthangady taluk, Dakshina Kannada district.
Addressing the media at the Press Club in Bengaluru on Thursday, Justice Gowda said the complainant, who has recorded his statement before a magistrate, is still facing police pressure. He alleged that investigators are coercing the whistleblower to mark burial sites on a blank sheet of paper and that crucial information is being leaked to private individuals.
He expressed concern that despite the complainant informing both police and the court about the location of the buried remains, the police have not visited the site. “This raises serious doubts about the intention behind the current investigation,” he said.
Justice Gowda urged the state to immediately remove the current team and form a new SIT headed by a police officer of ADGP rank, monitored by a sitting or retired judge of the higher judiciary. He also warned that the Home Minister and Director General of Police would be held responsible if any harm comes to the complainant or his legal counsel, who he said are receiving threats.
Senior advocate C.S. Dwarakanath, who was also present, pointed out that under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the complainant’s statement is legally admissible evidence. He said the fact that these sensitive statements are being leaked is a grave concern. “We’ve already written to the Home Minister urging him to take immediate steps to stop these leaks,” he added.
Other lawyers present at the press conference included Balu, Dr. C.S. Dwarakanath, Umapati, and Sudha Katwa.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
