MANGALURU: Unravelling the mystery surrounding the alleged rape, murder and burial of several women in Dharmasthala has presented the Dakshina Kannada police with an arduous task. With questions swirling about the whereabouts of the former sanitation employee-turned-whistleblower despite police offering protection under Witness Protection Scheme, police have sought permission from court to conduct brain mapping, fingerprint, and narco analysis tests on him, subject to his consent.
On Wednesday, SP Dr Arun K said the whistleblower’s whereabouts were unknown. The whistleblower’s lawyers, however, said police’s claim was false. They said the complainant is available to cooperate with the probe but police are not prompt in their response.
The SP cited Rule 7 of the Witness Protection Scheme, stating that enforcement of protection requires both the consent and active cooperation of the witness, neither of which had been forthcoming. On July 10, police had communicated the necessary procedures for extending protection to the complainant’s legal representative, but since then, communication had remained limited to email and no concrete information on the complainant’s current location.
The police expressed concern over the complainant’s lawyer releasing redacted copies of FIR and complaint to the media. They claimed this disclosure undermined efforts to protect the witness’s identity. The complainant’s legal team comprising advocates Dheeraj SJ and Ananya Gowda said he had told them to share redacted details of the case to raise awareness, not to compromise security.
The lawyers said that on July 14, police spent more than four hours recording the witness’s statement at a known location. The complainant’s temporary address was shared via email on July 13. They objected to this saying it was an attempted breach of attorney-client privilege by police.
On July 11, the complainant had made a sworn statement before a magistrate and handed over human remains recovered from one of the alleged burial sites.
These remains were secured by police and forensic teams. The complainant had expected the police to return to the site to conduct a mahazar and further documentation. However, no such step had been taken as on July 16, said the lawyers.
Case Pending in SC
The Dakshina Kannada police said they have come to know that a petition related to the case is already pending before the Supreme Court, but had not been disclosed to the investigation team by either the primary witness or his legal representatives. Authorities are now verifying the matter for its relevance and impact on the ongoing proceedings.
Meanwhile, police said confidential inputs from local sources have raised concerns that the key witness may abscond once the grave exhumation concludes. This has sparked suspicion that efforts are being made to hasten exhumation without adhering to proper investigative procedures. The possibility has been communicated to the witness’s legal team and is under close scrutiny. Officials said the exhumation process will be carried out only at an appropriate stage of the investigation and strictly in accordance with legal norms.
