Dharmasthala 'mass burial' case: Complainant arrested by SIT

A woman, claiming to be the masked man's first wife, had earlier issued statements against him, saying that his claims were false.

The complainant in the sensational alleged 'mass burial' case in Karnataka's Dharmasthala has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter.

The SIT and its chief, Pranab Mohanty, have questioned the complainant—whose name is not revealed—on Friday till late hours.

Officials said the arrest was made after inconsistencies were found in the statements and documents provided. The SIT is continuing its probe into the matter. The complainant-witness was taken to a hospital for medical examination after long hours of questioning.

A woman, claiming to be the masked man's first wife, had earlier issued statements against him.

"He is not a good person. He used to harass me and my children. His statements related to the Dharmasthala burial case are not true. He must have been issuing such statements for money", she told the press.

Speaking to the media, on Thursday, she had said, "I married him in 1999. We were together for seven years. He used to assault me, physically. We have a son and a daughter. He was a sweeper in Dharmasthala and used to clean toilets".

Raju from Maddur taluk, a friend of the complainant-witness, had said on Wednesday, August 21, that the allegations made by the masked man were false.

The complainant’s statement on burying hundreds of dead bodies at Dharmasthala is far from the truth, Raju had said.

He is said to have worked alongside the complainant for four years as a civic worker (sweeper) at Dharmasthala 10 years ago.

“The allegations levelled by the complainant are far from truth. It is not right to level such charges, defaming a pilgrimage town and its custodian,” Raju, a resident of Vaidyanathapura in the taluk told reporters.

He said he was inquired by the Special Investigation Team in connection with the Dharmasthala case for more than half an hour.

“I have provided them all the information I know. I and the complainant worked near the bathing ghat of Dharmasthala, Bahubali Betta and also near the temple. We were provided food and good salary. We were neighbours there and have seen many decomposed bodies of men and women. Some were hanging on the trees. We used to bring down the bodies from the trees. But, we did not bury any of the bodies. They were shifted through ambulances,” he said.

“I don’t know why he has made such allegations. He may levelled such charges for money’s sake. Nobody told us to bury any of the unidentified bodies. We have not buried any corpse without police permission,” Raju said.

The complainant-witness, a former sanitation worker, has claimed that he worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, and that he was forced to bury a number of bodies, including those of women and minors, in Dharmasthala.

He had alleged that some of the bodies showed signs of sexual assault. He has also given a statement before a magistrate in this regard.

As part of the probe, the SIT had been conducting excavations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites so far.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara had recently told the Assembly that action can be taken under the law against the complainant-witness if the SIT finds his allegations to be false.

Stating that till now only excavations have happened, had also said that the probe "hasn't even started", and that only the SIT probing the matter, not the government, would decide on the need for further digging.

With DHNS, PTI inputs