Sameer MD has been booked for making misleading YouTube videos of the Dharmasthala mass burial case.
The ex-sanitation worker, presented skeletal remains of a body he claimed to have exhumed. His identity is kept a secret, as he fears the allegedly powerful murderers of the hundreds of people he buried
The Week, July 13, 2025 : YouTuber MD Sameer was booked for creating an AI-generated video related to the Dharmastala mass burial case, where an ex-sanitation worker claimed to have exhumed hundreds of murder victims, on Saturday. Authorities have said that the video was produced with the intention of misleading the public.
The FIR against the YouTuber invokes multiple sections of the BNS, including “acts that might incite public disorder,” according to Vartha Bharathi.
The Dharmastala man, who claimed to have buried hundreds of bodies over six to seven years, had also produced the skeletal remains of a body, which he claimed to have exhumed himself, before the court on Friday.
Dakshina Kannada SP Dr Arun K said that “He also produced the skeletal remains, which he claimed to have exhumed himself, and they were seized in front of the advocates of the complainant and witnesses,”. The complainant had recorded his statement before the court, according to The New Indian Express. He had appeared before the court wearing a black cloth over his head to keep his identity a secret.
The man’s request for witness protection for his family has also been approved. The SP also said that a separate inquiry has been initiated into locals who have tried to narrow down the identity of the complainant through the press note and the FIR copy.
The complainant has also revealed the names of the perpetrators to the police. The Karnataka man had made a complaint at the Dharmastala police station on July 4, alleging that he had been forced to burn and bury the bodies of over a hundred victims of rape and murder.
In another development, the Hindu reports that cases were lodged against three YouTube channels that covered incidents in Dharmasthala. Among them were the Kannada news portal Eedina.com and the channels Sanchari Studio Plus and Kudla Rampage Plus.
The channels were blocked on July 10, following an interim High Court order in a petition filed by Sri Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development Project and family members of D. Veerendra Heggade, the hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala Temple. The order was issued on May 27, 2025.
