SIT is police too: Siddaramaiah dismisses demand for NIA probe in Dharmasthala case

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday dismissed calls for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the alleged murders, rapes and secret burials in Dharmasthala, asserting that the case is already being handled by the state’s Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Responding to questions on demands made by Hindu and Jain seers who had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief minister said, “We have constituted SIT, they are police. Who is in NIA? They too are police.”

The opposition BJP and JD(S) have also pressed for an NIA probe, accusing the Congress government of mishandling the matter and calling the allegations part of a conspiracy to malign Dharmasthala and its local temple.

This comes a day after Home Minister G Parameshwar questioned the rationale behind demands for central intervention. “We formed an SIT to probe it. Earlier, they (religious leaders) were saying that the SIT probe itself was not proper. Now they are demanding that the matter be handed over to the NIA. Isn’t that an investigation too?” he asked.

The controversy broke out after a complainant, CN Chinnayya, claimed to have buried several bodies, including women allegedly showing signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over the past two decades. The charges, which pointed towards the temple’s administrators, triggered a political storm before Chinayya was arrested for perjury.

- Ends