SIT finds no conclusive evidence in Dharmasthala mass burial allegations: Report
Bengaluru/Mangaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala has so far not found substantial evidence to support the claims made by whistleblower CN Chinnaiah, according to sources quoted by The New Indian Express on Monday. The team is now examining whether there was an attempt to deliberately target the temple town and identify those who may have instigated the allegations.
Since, Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker at the temple between 1995 and 2014, alleged that he was coerced into burying more than 100 bodies—including those of women and minors, the SIT has identified and examined around 18 alleged burial sites, where limited skeletal remains were found at some locations, including Banglegudde.
These remains have been sent for forensic and DNA analysis. However, according to officials, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report on remains recovered near the Nethravathi bathing ghat indicated they belonged to a male, contrary to the complainant’s claims. The report also stated that the age of the remains could not be determined and that there was no DNA sample available for matching. The SIT is still awaiting results on five skulls seized from Banglegudde.
Sujatha Bhat, who is also a complainant in the case, had alleged that after visiting Dharmasthala in 2003, her daughter went missing. She later retracted her statement and admitted that she had no daughter and had made the false claim under pressure from others.
The investigation was led by Director General of Police (Cyber Command) Pronab Mohanty and was constituted in July after the allegations gained national attention. Due to public sentiment over the unsolved murder of Soujanya the case resurfaced. Her case was initially investigated by the local police and later handed to the CID, before transferring it to the CBI. The CBI’s main accused, Santhosh Rao, was acquitted in 2023 for lack of evidence, and the Karnataka High Court later rejected a plea for a fresh probe.
The SIT has issued notices under Section 41A to five individuals including activists Mahesh Shetty Timarodi, Girish Mattannavar, Vittal Gowda, Jayant T, and Sujatha Bhat, for questioning in connection with the ongoing perjury case. Officials quoted by TNIE said that failure to comply with the notice could lead to arrests.
The Dakshina Kannada police denied permission for a protest planned in support of Timarodi. They said that a related writ petition is pending before the High Court, while the District Superintendent of Police Arun K warned that legal action would be taken if the instructions were not followed.
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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".
