There is no question of protecting anybody, want truth to come out: Dinesh Gundu Rao on Dharmasthala case

'There is no question of supporting or protecting anybody. We do not want to sensationalise the case, but we certainly want to pursue the truth. We want the truth to come out,' said Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao to reporters on Thursday.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday said the state government is not protecting anybody in the Dharmasthala burial case, in which a witness is complaining of disappearances, unnatural deaths, and sexual assaults.

“There is no question of supporting or protecting anybody. We do not want to sensationalise the case, but we certainly want to pursue the truth. We want the truth to come out,” said the minister to reporters on Thursday.

On allegations that the accused are being “protected”, the District In charge Minister of Dakshina Kannada said if there is evidence on the ground, and if the proof emerges, then strict action will be taken as per law.

“As far as the police of Dakshina Kannada district, they have been told to get to the truth, no matter what.” He said the information that has been provided by the witness is "shocking".

“It shook all of us up. Proper investigation is definitely required. If whatever the witness is saying holds true, then definitely it has serious implications,” Rao said.

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers, led by retired Supreme Court judge V Gopala Gowda, who had handed over a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to form a Special Investigation Team for an impartial probe into the case, reiterated on Thursday their concern that the investigation in the case is not on the proper lines.

“There are lapses on the part of the police investigation agency in this matter. It is the cardinal duty of the police investigation agency to unearth the truth by exhuming the bodies, but that is not happening,” said Gowda in a press conference organised by legal professionals in this regard.

Gowda said the witness' statement has got evidentiary value at the time of conducting the trial before the jurisdiction trial court.

On July 11, the witness produced some of the skeletal remains of a body that he claimed to have exhumed on his own, before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class, Belthangady court, and gave a statement regarding the same.

“It has disclosed who are responsible in committing murders and mass rapes. Names of certain persons are also disclosed. The information is in the public domain,” said Gowda.

According to him, due to the delay that is being caused for the last three weeks, the public could only infer that there must be strong vested interest behind it.

Besides an SIT team, the lawyers also demand comprehensive forensic support for collecting irrefutable scientific evidence, video recording of investigation as well as immediate arrest and custodial interrogation.