Dharmasthala case: BJP urges Congress to hand over probe to NIA to expose 'conspirators, foreign hands, funds'

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP on Saturday urged the Congress government to hand over the probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to expose "conspirators, foreign hands and funds" behind the complainant, who alleged "multiple murders, rapes and burials" in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.

The principal opposition party in the state alleged a "huge conspiracy" behind the slender campaign targeting Dharmasthala and the temple there.

The complainant, who has been identified as C N Chinnaiah, was arrested on Saturday.

"...this complainant is not important to us, the conspirators behind him are important. It needs to be investigated. For the government to prove that they are conducting a fair probe and they are not insulting Hindus, they will have to form a separate SIT for this," Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said.

"If the Congress and D K Shivakumar (Deputy Chief Minister) have any respect, they have to ensure that the conspirators are exposed. They should form an SIT for this or give it to the NIA. As money is said to have come from abroad and other states, the NIA probe will be required," he said.

Noting that several BJP MPs have written a letter to the central government seeking a NIA probe, he further said, "It will be good if the state gives for an NIA probe before the Centre orders it. If the state Congress government doesn't give it to the NIA, Congress' role in this will be clear."

The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing charges of multiple murders, rapes, and burials across different places in Dharmasthala, over the past two decades.

As part of the probe, the SIT has conducted exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.

Alleging that the Congress government had "tied the hands" of the police and had limited their probe in the case only to conduct exhumations and to find for bones or skulls, Ashoka said, when the BJP started raising questions on the investigation and the slender campaign, and when nothing was found after multiple exhumations, the line of probe started changing.

"Just arrest (of complainant) is not enough, the conspiracy should be exposed and the conspirators have to be exposed...this seems to have a religious conversion angle. This should be investigated. Either a separate SIT should be formed, or give it to the NIA. They will find foreign hands behind it," he added.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra also demanded that an appropriate investigation should be conducted and strict action should be taken against those who conspired against Dharmasthala.

"We had said that a conspiracy is being hatched against Dharmasthala, it has come true now. The arrest of the complainant has shed light on the truth. Who are the forces behind this person? Who are the people who hatched the conspiracy?" Vijayendra questioned in a post on "X'.

"All of them need to be unmasked, and strict legal action needs to be taken against those who tried to desecrate the holy Dharmasthala, a center of Hindu religious devotion," he said.

Claiming the involvement of foreign forces behind the broadcasting of a slender campaign against Dharmasthala on international and national news channels cannot be ruled out, the state BJP chief said, "Without limiting this case as a conspiracy against Dharmasthala, it should be considered as a systematic conspiracy against Indian's feelings and traditions."

"Just as the state Congress government bowed to the pressure of the Leftists and formed an SIT and conducted an investigation, in the same manner, appropriate investigation should be conducted and strict action should be taken against those who conspired against Dharmasthala," he added.