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A police personnel stands guard beside site 13, the last of the sites marked for exhumation by the Special Investigation Team probing the Dharmasthala secret burials case. (Express Photo by Akram M)
BJP MLAs on Tuesday asked the Karnataka Government to release an interim report on the Dharmasthala secret burials case, with one of them alleging a continuous effort to defame a Hindu religious site under the pretext of the ongoing investigation.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Assembly, BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar said, “If we look at posts on social media platforms and statements issued by some people, it is clear that Dharmasthala is the target.”
“While the whistleblower in the case had identified five to six spots where bodies were allegedly buried, today they have exhumed around 15 to 16 locations,” the MLA said. “We have learnt that, prima facie, nothing was found.”
Urging the Government to put an end to rumours surrounding the case, Kumar said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) cannot go around digging up any number of sites just because someone comes and complains.
The SIT on Tuesday inspected the 13th spot identified by the whistleblower, a former sanitation worker in the temple town. Till date, the SIT has recovered remains of two skeletons.
“Action should be initiated against those making false claims about the temple town. The home minister should release a statement regarding the progress of the investigation (by the SIT),” MLA Kumar said.
Home Minister G Parameshwara then informed the House that the investigation was progressing. “After the probe reaches a stage, the SIT will submit a report,” he said, recalling that the SIT was set up on July 19 to investigate a police complaint filed by the whistleblower.
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BJP MLA Suresh Kumar said that though Dakshina Kannada district-in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had said that the district police were capable of investigating the case, it was handed over to the SIT due to demands from Left groups.
Rao objected to the claim, saying that several groups had petitioned seeking an investigation. “We are unbiased. We are not supporting anyone. We only want to bring out the truth,” the minister said.
Parameshwara, meanwhile, said that until the SIT submitted its report, nothing about the investigation could be discussed in the Assembly. However, BJP legislators sought a discussion on the issue and demanded the home minister ask for an interim report from the SIT.
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