Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the reported mass graves, disappearances, and crimes against women and students in Dharmasthala over the last twenty years.

A government order released on Saturday indicated that it deemed it “suitable to create a special investigation team” to examine the crime recorded under pertinent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Dharmasthala Police Station and “all other criminal cases filed or to be filed in other police stations throughout Karnataka related to this matter.”

The State Commission for Women had requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to establish a SIT, led by senior police officials, “for a thorough and unbiased investigation into cases of missing women and female students, unnatural death murder cases, and rape incidents in the Dharmasthala region over the past two decades.”

In a letter dated July 14, the commission referenced media reports from July 12, which included a statement from a family whose daughter has gone missing and a court testimony from a daily-wage laborer, who asserted that he had personally buried over 100 bodies in and around Dharmasthala.

The state police had earlier registered a case and announced intentions to exhume remains near the Nethravathi River based on the witness’s assertions. His identity has been kept confidential due to safety concerns.

The SIT will be established if deemed necessary based on the police report regarding the Dharmasthala case, according to the Chief Minister.

The SIT, led by the Director General of Police (Internal Security Division) Pranav Mohanty, will comprise Deputy Inspector General of Police (Recruitment) M.N. Anucheth; Deputy Commissioner of Police of City Armed Reserve (CAR) headquarters Soumyalatha; and Superintendent of Police (Internal Security Division) Jitendra Kumar Dayama.

“The previously mentioned case, along with all other criminal cases that are to be registered in various police stations throughout the state of Karnataka related to it, will be transferred to the special investigation team,” stated the government order.

Dharmasthala case: A woman has submitted a new complaint requesting the remains of her daughter, who has been missing since 2003.

The order further specified that the SIT will be based at the Dakshina Kannada district police office and will receive the necessary personnel and resources. The SIT has been directed to provide regular updates on the progress of its investigation to the director general and inspector general of police, and to “submit the investigation report to the government without delay.”

In the meantime, attorneys representing the whistleblower in the Dharmasthala mass grave case delivered a memorandum to CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday, expressing serious concerns regarding alleged police collusion, information leaks, and pressure tactics that are purportedly being used to obstruct the investigation.