Aneesh's allegation came close on the heels of Advocate KV Dhananjay, representing the whistleblower, saying that Keralites, too, might have been killed in Dharmasthala.
Published Jul 22, 2025 | 12:23 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 22, 2025 | 12:23 PM
Manjunatha Temple, Dharmasthala
Synopsis: Aneesh said his father, KJ Joy, was killed in a road accident while riding his bike, and raised suspicion that the incident was stage-managed at the behest of an influential person in Dharmasthala.
Even as the alleged mass burial at Dharmasthala in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district continued to make headlines, a Kerala man has approached the Thaliparamba police in Kannur, seeking a probe into the death of his father in 2018.
The man, Aneesh, said his father, KJ Joy of Idukki, who resided in Belthangadi’s Karambaru, died in an alleged “stage-managed” road accident while riding a bike, at the behest of an influential local person in Dharmasthala.
Aneesh, residing in Pulimparamba, raised suspicion that his father’s death had links to the recent revelation by a whistleblower, a former sanitation worker of the Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple.
The former employee, a 48-year-old Dalit, said the temple officials had threatened him to bury hundreds of girls, women, and men, especially vagabonds, in the forested areas of Dharmasthala between 1995 and December 2014. He added that many bodies bore signs of sexual abuse.
Aneesh said he had lodged a complaint in Dharmasthala, but was forced to return to Kerala on receiving death threats.
Incidentally, Aneesh’s allegation came close on the heels of Advocate KV Dhananjay, representing the whistleblower, saying that Keralites, too, might had been killed in Dharmasthala.
In a statement issued on 17 July, the advocate urged the Kerala Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution, “demanding an investigation to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and competence” into the allegation.
He said his demand was “for reasons that could become evident soon but which might already be known to the Kerala government”.
The resolution, he said, should also demand to include the Kerala police in the probe, for which the Kerala government must move the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegations.
