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The Karnataka government has announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala. The SIT will be headed by Director General of Police (DGP) Internal Security Division and Cyber Command Pronab Mohanty.
The state government ordered the formation of the SIT on July 19.
The SIT has been formed to probe the horrific allegations of mass burials and the sexual assault of girls and children in the Dharmasthala temple town in Karnataka.
Earlier this month, a whistleblower, a 48-year-old Dalit man who had worked as a sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala temple, alleged that he was ordered to regularly dispose of dead bodies from 1995 to 2014. He also alleged that the bodies were of women and children, some of whom bore signs of sexual assault.
The SIT will also include DIG (Recruitment) MN Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of the City Armed Reserve (CAR) headquarters Soumyalatha and Superintendent of Police (SP) Jitendra Kumar Dayama.
The lawyers representing the whistleblower in the case had earlier urged the Karnataka government to set up an SIT led by Mohanty to ensure a credible, independent investigation.
Notably, the SIT was ordered on the same day Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara stated that an SIT would not be formed since the case was at a preliminary stage, despite demands from various activists and organisations in the state.
Earlier on Friday, July 18, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that his government was not opposed to forming an SIT but would decide on it only after the police submit their report.
