A Dalit man, formerly employed as a sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple, alleged a 20-year cover-up of murders and sexual assaults.
Published Jul 29, 2025 | 12:01 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 29, 2025 | 12:49 PM
Dharmasthala temple. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Special Investigation Team probing the revelations by a whistleblower that several bodies were buried in Dharmasthala carried out spot inspections. Reports say the whistleblower identified 15 burial sites.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the revelations by a whistleblower that several bodies were buried in Dharmasthala in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka carried out spot inspections on Monday, 28 July.
The witness-complainant in the case arrived at the SIT office in Belthangady around 11.30 am on Monday, where Investigating Officer (IO) Jitendra Kumar Dayama questioned him. Later, he was taken to the Nethravathi bathing ghat.
Reports say the whistleblower identified 15 burial sites. The first eight locations are along the banks of the Nethravathi River. Locations 9 to 12 are beside the highway near the river. The 13th is on the road connecting Nethravathi to Aajukuri, and the remaining two, 14 and 15, are in the Kanyadi area near the highway, reported India Today.
Meanwhile, advocate Manjunath, representing the woman whose daughter Ananya Bhat went missing in Dharmasthala in 2003, demanded the immediate arrest of Dharmasthala Panchayat Vice President upon the recovery of bodies from the sites shown by the whistleblower.
The SIT is reportedly set to initiate the process of exhuming the bodies on Tuesday.
A Dalit man, formerly employed as a sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple, alleged a 20-year cover-up of murders and sexual assaults.
“The SIT investigation will continue. We have taken it seriously. No one should comment while the investigation is underway,” warned Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara.
In a press note on Monday, Manjunath detailed the reasons why they made the demand.
“Today’s dramatic developments in the Dharmasthala mass burial case have exposed the hollow claims of Panchayat Vice President Shrinivas Rao, who maintained that all burials were conducted through official channels with proper documentation,” he said.
The whistleblower today led the Special Investigation Team to multiple burial sites in dangerous, scattered locations near the Netravati river terrain, so treacherous that no panchayat anywhere in the country would ever choose such sites for official burials. These locations, now marked by the SIT for exhumation beginning tomorrow, completely contradict Rao’s claims of systematic, documented burials since the 1980s.
He said the identified burial sites were in hazardous and difficult-to-access locations where no sane panchayat administration would bury bodies they might need to exhume later for relatives.
“The sites are scattered across treacherous forest-like areas rather than in any designated plain and easy-to-reach ground, completely inconsistent with official panchayat procedures. Rao had claimed the panchayat maintained records and even exhumed bodies when relatives appeared later. How could the panchayat safely escort grieving families to these dangerous locations?” he questioned.
Manjunath said the whistleblower spent hours showing multiple hidden locations to the SIT and added that not a single one among them could be an official burial ground as per established procedures.
“This revelation raises serious questions about Shrinivas Rao’s role in what now appears to be a calculated cover-up operation,” he added.
Further, Manjunath raised several questions: “Why did he claim all burials were official when the locations prove otherwise? Who instructed him to provide cover for these clandestine burials? What does he know about the actual perpetrators? Is he actively part of the cover-up operation?”
“His statement that ‘records for burials of unclaimed bodies were available in annual audit reports since 1989’ now appears to be a calculated attempt to legitimise mass murder and obstruct justice. No panchayat in India buries bodies in dangerous, scattered forest-like locations. The very nature of these burial sites — revealed today (Monday) by the whistleblower — proves these were clandestine operations to hide murder victims, not official procedures for unclaimed bodies,” he alleged.
Manjunath demanded the immediate arrest of Shrinivas Rao if human remains were recovered from the sites.
“As someone who has actively tried to mislead the public and potentially obstruct a murder investigation, Rao likely possesses crucial information about the actual perpetrators behind these murders, the systematic cover-up operation, and the nexus between panchayat officials and those responsible. Rao’s attempts to normalise these burials through false claims of documentation make him a prime suspect in the cover-up. His immediate arrest and interrogation could provide valuable leads to unravel this horrific conspiracy,” he added.
He also called upon the Karnataka Government to investigate all panchayat officials who may be complicit.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Nolan Patrick Pinto.)
