MANGALURU: No human remains were found during exhumation at five alleged burial sites shown by the whistleblower to the Special Investigation Team(SIT) in connection with the Dharmasthala mass burial case, and the SIT ended the process for Day 2 on Wednesday.
SIT resumed day 2 of the exhumation process on Wednesday at a hilly forested area close to the Nethravathi bathing ghat in Dharmasthala village in Belthangady taluk at around 12.30pm.
Around 20 labourers were called in who dug up five sites till 5.30 pm, but there was no trace of any skeletal remains in any of them and the SIT closed the investigation for the day.
Meanwhile, SIT chief Pronab Mohanty, along with DIG MN Anucheth, also visited the spot amid rain to oversee the exhumation at 4.30 pm.
The SIT had to return empty-handed on the first day of the exhumation on Tuesday also as no human skeletal remains were found at the first site identified by the witness-complainant, even after digging for almost 8 feet deep and 15ft wide. Sources said an ID card and a bag was recovered from the first spot and the same is being investigated by the SIT.
It may be recalled that the witness-complainant, a former sanitation worker has alleged that he was coerced into burying the bodies of victims of alleged rape and murder a decade ago. A case was registered at the Dharmasthala police station on July 4, and the SIT was constituted on July 19 to probe the case.