A member of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged mass-burial case in Karnataka's Dharmasthala is facing allegations of pressuring the anonymous complainant-witness to withdraw his complaint.

The SIT on Saturday dug the ninth location in the forest area near the Netravati river as identified by the witness, but could not find anything. On Thursday, skeletal remains of a man were recovered from the sixth site.

Ananya Gowda, a lawyer representing the complainant, has written to the top officials of the SIT accusing Manjunath Gowda, inspector of Sirsi police station, of threatening the complainant with arrest and jail term if he didn't withdraw his complaint.

A source told The Telegraph that the complainant was coerced into confessing that he had raised a false complaint, and the admission was recorded by the inspector on his mobile phone.

Ananya claimed that the incident occurred at the SIT office in Belthangady on Friday night. Following the controversy, the SIT is facing demands to remove Manjunath from the probe, but sources said the SIT members had denied the allegations.

On Saturday, officials reached the ninth location adjacent to the Nethravathi riverbank along the Ujire-Dharmasthala-Kokkada state highway around 11.30am, marking the fifth consecutive day of exhumation.

According to police sources, the SIT plans to dig four adjacent sites on Saturday in the presence of the complainant. These sites are among the 15 locations pinpointed by the complainant-witness, who has claimed that he had buried multiple bodies along the riverbank over several years.

Eight sites had been dug up over the last four days in areas near Dharmasthala Subramanya Road. The SIT had found five teeth and two hip bones while digging the sixth site on Thursday. The remains have since been transferred to the forensic laboratory in Bengaluru.

Dakshina Kannada district police are maintaining a protective cordon around the sites. A green fabric barricade has been erected to prevent unauthorised access.