Startling revelations from Karnataka’s Belthangady have reignited outrage in the Dharmasthala mass burial case. An RTI inquiry has revealed that between 2000 and 2015, the Belthangady police deleted all entries from the Unnatural Death Register (UDR), during a period marked by multiple suspicious and unreported deaths.
RTI activist Jayanth, who uncovered this erasure, has now filed a formal complaint with the Special Investigation Team (SIT), alleging he witnessed the illegal burial of a young girl. He claims several officials were present and that proper procedures were entirely bypassed — the body, he said, was “buried like a dog.”
Jayanth, who has spent years seeking accountability through RTI, stated he had earlier requested missing persons records and identification data. Shockingly, police responded that all such documents — including postmortem reports, wall posters, and photos — had been destroyed under routine administrative orders, without any digital backup.
On August 2, Jayanth filed his complaint, naming all those involved in the burial. He asserted no one is influencing his actions and that he vowed years ago to go public once the investigation landed in honest hands.
He questioned how skeletal remains could be matched to any victims when police had allegedly erased all relevant records. He demanded a comprehensive probe into those responsible for the cover-up.
The SIT is now expected to register an FIR and begin exhumation. Public pressure is mounting to hold those accountable for a decade-long suppression of truth.