Six days after registering an FIR, the Dakshina Kannada district police are yet to start the exhumation process to verify the shocking claims made by a former sanitation worker that he was forced to bury the bodies of many women and girls by the Dharmasthala temple administration.
He had said in his complaint that he was willing to show the police where the bodies were buried provided that he was given witness protection. It is unclear if the committee for witness protection has finalised its action plan to safeguard a man who is promising to expose crimes of enormous proportions.
The whistleblower, who was expected to appear before a magistrate on Wednesday, July 9, backed out at the last minute after negotiations between his lawyers and the police ended in a deadlock.
Despite repeated attempts, Superintendent of Police K Arun did not answer calls or messages seeking a response on whether or not the police had begun the investigation, and if not, why the investigation had been delayed given the seriousness of the allegations made by the sanitation worker.
The whistleblower had lodged a complaint at the Dharmasthala police station on July 3 through his lawyers, alleging that he had been forced by the Dharmasthala temple administration to bury several bodies between 1995 and 2014. Many of the bodies were those of women or girls who appeared to have been sexually assaulted, he alleged.
The SP had confirmed to TNM on Monday, July 7, that the district level committee under the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 had received the man’s application seeking witness protection. Asked when the committee would make a decision, he said that he would release a public statement on Thursday, July 10.
Read: Karnataka: Man who alleged secret burials in Dharmasthala seeks witness protection
Sources told TNM that a notice was issued on Monday, July 7, asking the whistleblower to appear in court the next day to record a statement before a magistrate. However, the source said that the man was unable to appear as he could not travel immediately. The police reportedly then asked the lawyers to file an affidavit if they intended to appear in court along with the whistleblower, sources said.
This has led to two lawyers writing letters to the Chief Minister asking why the investigation has not yet begun and the police were instead focusing on other legal procedures which could happen simultaneously with the investigation and exhumation process.
Supreme Court lawyer A Velan, released a public statement saying that the recovery of skeletal remains was both urgent and lawful. Velan represented YouTuber Sameer MD who had been booked for making a video in 2012 criticising the police probe in the Sowjanya rape and murder in the same temple town.
Read: Sowjanya murder case video: YouTuber Sameer MD booked for offending religious sentiments
Advocate Velan said that when a First Information Report (FIR) is registered based on allegations of grave crimes such as rape and murder, the police are empowered under Section 175 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) (previously Section 156 of the Criminal Procedure Code) to begin a full investigation without delay.
“This is not a limited power; it is comprehensive,” he said, adding that it includes power for the authorities to visit places connected to the crime, recover and preserve evidence, and document all findings in accordance with the law. Velan said that such action is not just legally valid but mandatory.
Velan also said that the whistleblower giving a statement to a judicial magistrate under Section 183 of BNSS (previously Section 164 of the CrPC) would bolster the case. “(The statement before the magistrate) is not a precondition for police investigation. It is meant to strengthen the prosecution case, not delay evidence collection,” Velan said in his statement.
Manjunath N, another advocate, released a copy of a letter he wrote to the senior police officers, the registrar of the Karnataka High Court, the Karnataka Lokayukta, the Chief Minister and Home Minister on Wednesday, July 9, about the “alarming lack of visible progress” in the case.
“Six days after the complaint, the investigating officer has, to the best of public knowledge and despite the extreme urgency, reportedly not even proceeded to the alleged burial spots with the complainant. No visible, ground-level steps seem to have been taken towards initiating the crucial process of exhumation,” Manjunath said, warning that “with every passing hour of inaction, the risk of evidence tampering or destruction intensifies”.
He urged the police and government to ensure that the investigation team is dispatched immediately to the burial sites to secure the locations and initiate the process for exhumation of bodies without further delay.
He also called for the Investigating Officer in the case, Samartha Ganiger, who is the Sub-Inspector of Dharmasthala Police Station, to be changed to instill confidence that the investigation will be impartial.