Bengaluru, Aug. 16 -- With the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) excavation work in Dharmasthala producing minimal evidence after more than two weeks, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has said the state is weighing legal measures against those he believes ran a "misinformation campaign" aimed at the pilgrim town and its authorities.

The SIT, which began its operation on July 29 based on claims by a former sanitation worker, has examined most of the 13 burial sites he identified, recovering skeletal remains from only one. Senior SIT officials indicated two more sites would be checked before bringing the search to a close. The complainant had alleged that over a span of 25 years he was forced to bury hundreds of victims of ...