Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said on September 30 that the government was willing to examine concerns raised by the family and public about officers appointed to a fresh investigation into a 2012 rape and murder near Dharmasthala. IANS reported his Wednesday remarks. He said the government wanted the truth established and justice delivered, and would follow the Supreme Court’s directions.
Bengaluru Rural Additional Superintendent of Police Venkatesh Prasanna has asked the state government to release him from the special investigation team, according to September 30 reports by TV9 Kannada and Asianet Suvarna News. The reports connect his request to objections about his inclusion. They do not establish that the government has accepted it. The letter’s precise date was not verified.
The five-member team was constituted through a September 24 government order and is headed by Inspector General N Shashi Kumar. The News Minute reported that the Supreme Court required the new team to exclude officers involved in the earlier investigations by the local police, state CID and CBI. The fresh inquiry is a separate process from those earlier investigations.
There has also been additional staffing for the inquiry. Mangalore Today reported on September 30 that a September 29 order assigned 16 police personnel to assist the team and directed their release from existing postings so they could report in Bengaluru. That order predates the minister’s comments and does not itself resolve the dispute over membership of the main team.
The Supreme Court ordered a fresh investigation on September 21 after the family challenged the handling of the case. The Indian Express reported that the person previously prosecuted had been acquitted in June 2023 and that the earlier inquiries left important leads unexamined. Reopening the investigation creates an opportunity to examine evidence; it does not establish any person’s guilt.