MANGALURU: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the alleged crimes in Dharmasthala village, took Vittal Gowda, uncle of Sowjanya who was allegedly raped and murdered in 2012, to a place near Banglegudde where exhumation for possible human remains was conducted.
SIT officials took Gowda to the spot around 7.30pm on Saturday. He was taken to the spot in connection with the skull that the complainant had produced before the court, sources said. SIT had earlier questioned Vittal Gowda.
Earlier, the Additional Civil and First Class Magistrate Court in Belthangady sent the 45-year-old complainant — now accused of perjury in the Dharmasthala mass burials case — to 14-day judicial custody. \
The SIT produced him before Judge Vijayendra HT as his custody ended on Saturday.
The complainant-turned-accused has been sent to a prison in Shivamogga for security reasons as there is no proper facility to accommodate him at the Mangaluru prison as he is still under witness protection till September 10.
SIT sources said they did not seek his further custody as they already had him for the last 15 days. “We need to convey a valid reason to the court and issue a body warrant if we need his further custody,” a source said.
The complainant was arrested on August 23 on charges of perjury as he was not able to show the spot from where he claimed to have exhumed the skull from. The court had remanded him to SIT custody till September 3 and his custody was further extended till September 6. Meanwhile, activists Girish Mattannavar and Jayanth T were questioned by Investigating Officer Jitendra Kumar Dayama on Saturday.
An officer associated with the SIT said they are yet to receive FSL reports on the human remains recovered during exhumation and the skull which the complainant produced as evidence.
