Govt will act against culprits in Dharmasthala case: D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said that the government has maintained that action will be taken against those who are wrong with regard to the complaint of "multiple murders, rapes and burials" over the past two decades in Dharmasthala.

He said the probe is on in the case, and the government is on the side of "justice".

The Deputy CM was responding to a question on the arrest of the complainant in this case.

"BJP people had not spoken anything, they are fence sitters, after I spoke on the issue (calling it a conspiracy) they are speaking," Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, those from the family heading Dharmasthala's temple and institutions have welcomed the probe. They had met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and had appreciated the decision.

"Investigation is going on. Our government, Home Minister (G Parameshwara) and Chief Minister, had told the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and in the Assembly that action will be taken against those who have done wrong. We are not in favour of anyone. We are in favour of justice. We don't want politics to be played in religion," he added.

Shivakumar had recently alleged "conspiracy" to tarnish Dharmasthala's image, and had expressed confidence that the truth will come to light through the ongoing investigation.

Opposition BJP has been critical of the government's handling of the investigation and its inaction against what they called a "slender campaign" targeting Dharmasthala and the temple there.

They had recently demanded an interim report from the government on the probe, and action against the complainant and others allegedly behind him, claiming the allegations were part of a "toolkit to denigrate Hindu gods and their places of worship."

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

The Special Investigation Team (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.

The complainant, reportedly a former sanitation worker, whose identity has not been revealed, 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 has conducted excavations 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.