SIT summons activists in Dharmasthala mass burial case as probe nears conclusion

The SIT investigating alleged mass burials at Dharmasthala has summoned three activists linked to the Justice for Sowjanya campaign. The probe, nearing completion, examines charges of perjury and evidence tampering after forensic analysis discredited key material evidence

Mangaluru (Karnataka): The SIT probing allegations of multiple burials at Dharmasthala in Karnataka has issued summons to three activists–Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, T Jayanth, and Girish Mattannavar–requiring their appearance on Monday.

Failure to comply will result in arrest warrants, as the probe deepens into potential perjury and evidence tampering, police sources said. The SIT investigation has come to a decisive stage and is nearing completion, according to a senior official of the SIT.

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The case originated in August 2025 when Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker at the temple from 1995 to 2014, filed a complaint alleging the secret burial of over 200 unidentified bodies on temple premises between 2002 and 2014.

He claimed the remains included victims of accidents, murders, and suspicious deaths, buried without autopsies or police reports to conceal irregularities. Chinnaiah presented a human skull as evidence, which he said was recovered from the site, sparking widespread outrage among the temple’s millions of annual devotees and prompting the State government to form an SIT under Pronab Mohanty.

Investigations revealed Chinnaiah’s close ties to the three activists, all linked to the ongoing Justice for Sowjanya campaign–a decade-long push for resolution in the 2012 rape and murder of teenager Sowjanya in Udupi.

Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, a prominent figure in the campaign, provided shelter to Chinnaiah at his Ujire residence days before the complaint. SIT searches there on August 26 yielded 44 items, including laptops with 25 videos of Chinnaiah’s media interactions and seized phones containing 21 additional recordings.

Thimarody, externed from Raichur district in September for unrelated charges, including assault on a journalist, alongside Mattannavar, faces questions on his role in amplifying the allegations.

T Jayanth, a Bengaluru-based activist and Thimarody associate, hosted Chinnaiah for three days post-arrest and escorted him to Delhi with the skull, accompanied by perjury-accused Sujatha Bhatt and Mattannavar. Jayanth later admitted to the SIT that he acted on Mattannavar’s instructions, claiming no intent to conspire but readiness to face charges.

He also filed a separate complaint alleging improper burial of a 15-year-old girl’s body near Dharmasthala in 2002-2003. Girish Mattannavar, a former sub-inspector and Sowjanya campaign coordinator, introduced Chinnaiah to Jayanth in April 2025 and directed logistics for transporting the skull.

Questioned multiple times in September, Mattannavar has been accused in complaints of orchestrating a network to defame temple head D Veerendra Heggade. Forensic analysis traced the skull to a medical research centre, undermining its evidentiary value and fuelling perjury inquiries.