• Brother of deceased woman says that the photo released by Sujatha Bhat, claiming to be of her daughter Ananya Bhat, is actually of his sister Maletira Vasanthi.
• Highly decomposed body of Vasanthi had been found in a river in Virajpet taluk in 2007.

Madikeri: As the mystery deepens over Dharmasthala Mass Burial case, with the new twists and turns emerging every other day, raising the bar of suspicion, here comes another, infusing new life to an old case.

A complaint related to missing of a woman named Ananya Bhat at Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, 22 years ago in the year 2003, has triggered curiosity, with the photo of a missing person provided by the complainant turning out to be a squib.

One Sujatha Bhat had lodged at complaint at Dharmasthala Police Station recently, urging the Police to trace the skeletal remains of her daughter Ananya Bhat, at least to perform the last rites. Now, the same complaint has set the tongues wagging, especially after the photo has turned out to be a fake.

Brother adds to twist

To set the record straight, the photo is actually of a woman by name Maletira Vasanthi, whose highly decomposed body, was found in Kottoli river near Boyikeri, Kedamullur village, Virajpet taluk in the year 2007.

This startling revelation was made by the deceased Vasanthi’s brother Maletira Vijay, who released some of the photographs of his sister, to disprove the claim of Sujatha Bhat.

Vijay said, “Vasanthi had married one Srivatsa Prasad of Vidyaranyapura in Bengaluru, at a hall in Sheshadripuram on May 27, 2007. We, the family members, didn’t oppose the alliance, as it was a love marriage. However, a complaint related to Vasanthi going missing had been lodged in Bengaluru the same year. Following the discovery of her body in the river, Virajpet Rural Police had registered a case.”

SIT to probe

Meanwhile, following the mystery surrounding Ananya Bhat’s case, the DG and IGP has issued an order, handing over the case to Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing into the Dharmasthala mass burials case.

Complainant says…

According to Sujatha Bhat, her daughter was a MBBS student, who had gone missing from Dharmasthala in 2003. The Police had refused to register a case in this regard.

Sujatha Bhat, in her complaint at Dharmasthala Police Station, had alleged that the Dharmasthala temple staff had abducted her.

Now, with the photo of Ananya Bhat turning out to be fake, raising a fresh wave of suspicion, the DG and IGP has handed over the case to SIT.

Ex-colleague disputes ‘Mask Man’s version

On the other hand, the needle of suspicion is becoming stronger, over the reported claims of a former sanitation worker of Dharmasthala temple, now dubbed as the ‘Mask Man’, about covertly burying hundreds of bodies of sexual assault victims in and around Dharmasthala.

Raju of Mandya, a former colleague of the ‘Mask Man’ at Dharmasthala, has turned down the claims of the latter as a blatant lie for the lure of money.

A native of Vaidyanathapura in Maddur taluk of Mandya district, Raju who had worked in Dharmasthala for four years said, in all probability, he (Mask Man) may be harping on, for the sake of money.

YouTubers under ED radar

In another major development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has directed Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe into the complaint of foreign funding for the YouTubers to publicise negative news about Dharmasthala. This follows a letter from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary to the Union Home Ministry, demanding to examine the documents pertaining to YouTubers.

Adding to this, Mangalore City North MLA Dr. Bharath Shetty has said, the probe either by National Investigation Agency (NIA) or ED will reveal the source of fund flow to their bank accounts.