The complainant who alleged multiple murders, rapes and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, official sources said on Saturday.

The complainant, a former sanitation worker who claimed to have worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, was questioned by SIT chief Pranab Mohanty and his team till late Friday night. Officials said the arrest followed inconsistencies in his statements and documents. He was also taken for a medical examination after the lengthy interrogation.

In his complaint, the worker alleged that he had been forced to bury numerous bodies, including those of women and minors, some of which bore signs of sexual assault. He had also recorded a statement before a magistrate and pointed investigators to forested sites along the Netravathi River where excavations were carried out. Skeletal remains were recovered at two such sites, though forensic confirmation is awaited.

The allegations had intensified after a separate set of claims by Sujatha Bhat, a woman who said her daughter went missing in Dharmasthala in 2003. Bhat later retracted her charges, admitting they were linked to a property dispute with temple authorities, and apologised publicly.

Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara recently told the Assembly that only excavations had been carried out so far and the SIT would decide on the need for further digging. He also warned that action could be taken under...

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