There has been a new twist in the Dharmasthala mass burial case. The main whistleblower of this case was arrested on Saturday on charges of giving false information to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Karnataka Police.
The arrested person is a former sweeper in the Dharmasthala temple administration. He had claimed that he had buried 70–80 bodies at several places. He was detained overnight for questioning and was arrested after questioning till 6 am today.
Fake human skull:
According to police sources, during the investigation it was found that the skull shown earlier by the whistleblower was fake. After this, he was arrested on charges of giving false testimony and presenting wrong evidence. Police said that the accused will be produced before the magistrate this evening. Before that he has been taken to the hospital for medical checkup.
Skeletal remains found at only one place out of 15:
He told the SIT about 15 places where he claimed to have buried several women and children between 1998 and 2014. But only one of these places (spot number 6) has yielded the remains of a man's skeleton.
Earlier, when Aaj Tak had asked the whistleblower why human remains had been found from only one place so far, he had said that some grave markers might have been erased due to erosion, forest growth and construction work.
An attempt to tarnish the image of the temple?:
He also claimed that the bodies were buried in broad daylight and many locals were present at that time, but no one dared to stop or question them. He rejected the allegations of working with the intention of tarnishing the image of the temple and said, 'What will I get by tarnishing the name of the temple? I myself am a Hindu and belong to the Scheduled Caste.'More Articles from Harshit
