Mother of Sowjanya files PIL in K'taka HC seeking 74 separate FIRs in Dharmasthala deaths case
Bengaluru: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Karnataka High Court by Kusumavathi, mother of the late Sowjanya, seeking court directions to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to register 74 separate FIRs and conduct a comprehensive investigation into the alleged unnatural deaths reported in Dharmasthala between 1990 and 2021.
The petition claims that the bodies of several unidentified persons were allegedly buried in the Dharmasthala region over a span of 31 years. Despite multiple appeals from families of victims, the SIT has allegedly failed to initiate individual cases or act on the detailed representations made earlier.
Details of the petition
According to the plea, the petitioner and other affected families had submitted a written request to the SIT on October 11, 2025, demanding separate FIRs for all 74 cases. The submission reportedly included detailed information such as dates, locations, UDR (Unnatural Death Report) numbers, and burial sites.
However, as no action was taken, the families have now approached the High Court. The PIL names the SIT as a respondent and seeks judicial oversight to ensure an impartial and effective investigation free from external influence.
Key prayers in the PIL
The petitioner has requested the court to:
Direct the SIT to register individual FIRs for all 74 alleged unnatural death cases and assign separate case numbers.
Appoint individual investigating officers for each case, ensuring personal accountability.
Use scientific tools such as ground-penetrating radar to locate burial sites, exhume remains for forensic examination, and conduct DNA and physical matching tests with missing person reports.
Identify victims through forensic pathology and record witness statements to trace possible perpetrators.
Publish public notices in at least three widely circulated newspapers (in Kannada and English) and on a government website with details such as the date, location, gender, and age of each case, enabling families of missing persons to contact the SIT.
Submit monthly progress reports on the investigation to the High Court.
Clarification by petitioner
The PIL emphasises that it does not seek to interfere with or criticize the functioning of the SIT. Instead, it calls for judicial supervision to ensure that the investigation proceeds “without political, social, or external pressures” and within the “framework of law and justice.”
The case is yet to be listed before a division bench of the Karnataka High Court for hearing.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
