BENGALURU: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sensational mass grave case reported from the Dharmasthala Hindu pilgrimage centre has submitted a 3, 932-page preliminary charge sheet before the Belthangady JMFC Court, police said on Friday. The investigating agency has sought more time to complete the probe and also sought guidance from the court on the future course of investigation.
Along with submitting the charge sheet, the SIT also presented arguments seeking the court’s guidance on the further course of investigation. The SIT sought directions for the next phase of the probe. The court has accepted the submission and is likely to issue directions in this regard on Friday.
Investigating Officer Jitendra Kumar Dayama submitted the charge sheet on Thursday and sought more time to complete the investigation. The preliminary charge sheet, spread across seven files and running to 3, 932 pages, has been placed before the court.
The SIT has included the statement of the arrested accused Chinnayya, also known as the ‘mask man’, records related to the crime scenes, details of grave excavations conducted at more than 17 locations, and statements of all those who were in contact with him -- including activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, Girish Mattannanavar, T. Jayanth and Vittal Gowda.
The SIT has also recorded the statement of Sujatha Bhat, who had initially claimed that her daughter was suspiciously missing in the Dharmasthala region and later stated that she did not have a daughter at all. She further claimed that she acted at the behest of the activists.