Bengaluru, Aug. 4 -- The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala mass burial case on Sunday asked a man claiming to have witnessed the illegal burial of a teenage girl's decomposed body to lodge a formal complaint with the local police as an investigation can only be initiated once a case is registered at the jurisdictional police station.

A senior officer said, "The SIT is not a police station. We cannot take direct complaints. We investigate based on cases filed with the local police and then record statements."

The witness, Jayanth, a 48-year-old social activist from Ichlampady village in Puttur taluk, met with SIT officials at their Belthangady office on Saturday. He was asked to return to the SIT on Monday once he...