Dharmasthala (Karnataka): In a dramatic twist to the alleged ‘mass burial’ case in Karnataka’s temple town of Dharmasthala, the complainant has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter for providing false information.
The complainant, who worked as a sanitation worker for the temple administration, had claimed that he had been forced to bury the bodies of hundreds of people, including raped and murdered girls and women, by his employers. His allegations rocked the state administration that set up the SIT.
Thereafter, the man took the team to several locations where he allegedly buried the bodies. However, nothing was found during the excavations. Even a skull that he handed over to the police as evidence was not connected in anyway to Dharmasthala, it has now come to be known.
“Earth was dug up at several locations, as per his instructions. However, nothing was found, save for the skeletal remains of a man who seems to have been buried many years ago. We finally took him in for questioning on Friday and after several rounds of interrogation, arrested him on Saturday,” an official said.
The man had indicated that the deaths had to do with the temple administration and the police were not even aware of the crimes. The 800-year-old temple at Dharmasthala is visited by lakhs of devotees every year.
A man, who claims to have worked with the complainant as a sanitary worker, told the police that he was lying and there were no mass burial sites in the area.
“Bodies used to be found. Some would come floating down the river in a decomposed state. Others would be hanging from the branches of trees. This is common everywhere. We would retrieve the bodies and hand them over to the police. There has never been any instructions from the temple administration to bury or cremate any body secretly,” he said.