(MENAFN- IANS) Bengaluru, Nov 21 (IANS) 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.

The SIT informed the court that it had issued notices for the questioning of Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi and others. The questioning of some accused persons is still pending, and the lab report has also not yet been received. Therefore, the SIT has requested additional time to continue the investigation, stating that a full charge sheet will be submitted once the probe is completed.

Reacting to this, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara had said in Bengaluru on Thursday,“We have given clearance for the SIT to submit the charge sheet in the Dharmasthala case. It is up to the SIT to decide when to submit it. They are required to file it within 90 days of the FIR, and they will do so.”

Refusing to divulge further details, he said,“Once they submit the charge sheet, they will provide the information to the government. Let the details come out; everyone will know then. They will also brief the government -- after all, it was the government that formed the SIT.”

Parameshwara said the case was discussed extensively during the last session.“We have to present information to the House,” he said.“Once the report is submitted, we will know all the details -- what conspiracy took place, who was responsible. We will explain the findings of the report in the legislature during the upcoming winter session.”

According to information, supplementary evidence such as photographs, videos, and statements has also been added to the charge sheet.

The SIT has recorded separate statements from all individuals concerned. Details of the developments during the filing of the complaint on June 22, as well as the four-month investigation, have been compiled and included in the charge sheet.

It can be recalled that, in a major development on July 11, the masked man Chinnaiah, who claimed he had been forced to bury the bodies of women and girls raped and murdered in Dharmasthala village, appeared before a court in Mangaluru district and recorded his statement.

He requested that the bodies be exhumed in his presence and alleged that the victims bore clear signs of sexual assault.

According to him, the bodies were found without clothing or undergarments and had injuries consistent with violent sexual abuse. In addition, the arrested whistleblower had reportedly submitted a skull, allegedly recovered from one of the burial sites, to the SIT.

He was given protection under the Witness Protection Act, and facilities were extended.

Following the claims, a retired Supreme Court judge and several activists demanded a Supreme Court- or High Court-monitored SIT probe into the alleged Dharmasthala murders, which could involve the deaths of multiple women, girls and destitute men.

Later on August 23, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested the unidentified complainant, also referred to as the "mask man", in connection with the Dharmasthala case. The complainant was arrested on charges of providing false information related to the Dharmasthala case. SIT officials, who interrogated him for more than 15 hours, concluded that he had been misleading the authorities.

On August 7, state Home Minister Parameshwara had confirmed that the SIT probing the alleged mass grave case in the temple town of Dharmasthala in Mangaluru district has recovered a male skeleton and human bones from the marked burial sites, which have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

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