Mangaluru — Former Deputy Superintendent of Police Anupama Shenoy has called for the immediate removal of IPS officer Pranab Mohanty as head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala murders.
Addressing the media at the Press Club in Mangaluru, Shenoy urged the government to replace Mohanty with officers such as Dr. K. Ramachandra Rao or Dayananda, citing concerns over Mohanty’s qualifications and past associations.
She highlighted that Mohanty’s appointment is linked to High Court writ petition No. 8403/2025, a cybercrime case. At the time, Mohanty was serving as ADGP of the CID’s Cyber Economics and Narcotics (CEN) division and was directed to form the SIT.
“Mohanty has strong credentials in cyber forensics — two B.E. degrees, an M.S. in Computer Science, a PhD, and is a certified Forensic Computer Examiner. However, his background is not suited to handling sensitive cases involving rape and murder,” Shenoy stated. She also claimed that several police officials had expressed discomfort over his suitability for the case.
Shenoy further recalled the controversial death of DySP M.K. Ganapathy, who before dying by suicide had accused Minister K.J. George and IPS officers A.M. Pusad and Pranab Mohanty of exerting undue pressure.
“These connections raise doubts about the influence behind Mohanty’s appointment,” she added, demanding the government honor the concerns of the police community and assign a more appropriate officer to lead the investigation.