‘Probe will be conducted with transparency’:Home Minister G Parameshwara on Dharmasthala case

BENGALURU: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday addressed the Assembly on the allegations of mass burial near Dharamsthala, assuring that an investigation into the same was being conducted with full transparency and in accordance with the law.

Home Minister stated that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been formed to probe the investigation done by the local police.

“We are not hiding anything. The investigation will be conducted with transparency. There is no other purpose. The material situation has been placed before the House. The government is not hiding anything. The SIT was not formed under anyone’s pressure. Whose skeleton was found? In what condition was it buried? All this will be proven by the investigation,” State Minister said.

G Parameshwara informed the Assembly that a probe into the matter is being undertaken seriously.

“The investigation is being conducted with transparency, without succumbing to any pressure. If the complainant shows the entire Dharmasthala, we will not dig, but the SIT will decide whether to dig the places he mentioned or not. DNA and chemical analysis should be done on the places that have already been dug. Then a final decision can be made,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka Government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter related to alleged incidents of mass murder, mass rape, and mass burial in Dharmasthala town.

The development follows a letter from the Karnataka State Women’s Commission (KSWC) requesting that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah form an SIT under the leadership of senior police officials to investigate the matter.

In their letter, the KSWC cited a media report which consisted of a statement from a person who had claimed that bodies were buried in the past 20 years in the region.

The government order said that it was found appropriate to form a Special Investigation Team to investigate the cases registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS) at the Dharmasthala police station. (ANI)