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SIT stops Dharmasthala excavation, awaits forensic reports: With no evidence of mass burial, many ask whether claims were a conspiracy to defame Karnataka’s Hindu pilgrimage site
Dharmasthala mass burial case: The SIT during examination at a site in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. (PTI)
After a painstaking 21-day investigation involving the excavation of 17 locations, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has found no mass graves in the temple town of Dharmasthala.
The lack of evidence has led many to question whether the mass burial claims were a conspiracy to defame one of Karnataka’s most prominent Hindu pilgrimage sites.
What the SIT found? What is its plan now?
The investigation was launched after a former sanitation worker claimed he was forced to bury the bodies of sexually harassed and murdered women around the Netravathi river.
Armed with ground-penetrating radar and other sophisticated forensic technology, the SIT meticulously excavated every site identified by the complainant. His most damning claim—that site 13 held the remains of 60 to 100 bodies—was found to be completely unsubstantiated.
While partial skeletal remains were found at site number 6, forensic experts have opined that they belong to a male, not a mass grave of women.
Some skeletal remains have been found at another spot, but experts believe it is a recent death which is likely to case of suicide. The complainant has claimed most of these bodies were buried before 2014.
The SIT has decided to suspend exhumation and excavation in Dharmasthala till the forensic reports are out. The Home Minister informed the Karnataka assembly that the exhumation has been stopped by SIT for now. “Chemical analysis at the spot and forensic reports about any possible DNA traces from these sites are awaited. The SIT has decided to stop this till reports come. If chemical analysis shows traces of human DNA, it will take a different route. The SIT has been allowed to decide. It is not the government’s call,” he said.
The political firestorm
The lack of evidence has ignited a political firestorm, with leaders from both sides of the aisle pointing fingers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been vocal in its stance, with leaders alleging a “mega smear campaign” by a “left lobby and anti-Hindu forces.”
BJP MLA Bharat Shetty stated, “Under pressure from the leftists, the state government ordered SIT investigation. The Deputy Chief Minister himself has said there is a conspiracy. They say we are doing politics, but they are hurting Hindu sentiments.”
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of the Congress has also acknowledged a “big conspiracy.” Speaking on the matter, he said, “I won’t reveal who is behind it. It is a well-planned strategy to tarnish their name. They are attempting to spoil the tradition and lineage that has been there for hundreds of years. It’s about faith.” Shivakumar affirmed that the party is committed to getting to the bottom of the matter and taking action against those who are conspiring to defame the temple.
#WATCH | Bengaluru | On state government to form SIT to probe wherein bodies were allegedly discovered in Dharmasthala, Karnataka Minister G Parameshwara says, “The government has constituted an SIT to look into the Dharmasthala issues. There has been a complaint. There has been… pic.twitter.com/o9Qrlc32qq— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2025
On the other hand, Congress MLA Sharath Bachegowda pushed back against the BJP’s narrative, saying, “Dharmasthala temple has been there for centuries; the BJP hasn’t built it. Lord Manjunath Swamy doesn’t need the BJP, but the BJP needs Manjunath Swamy.”
BJP State President BY Vijayendra defended his party’s stance, arguing, “If the BJP wanted to politicize the Dharmasthala issue, we could have done it from day one. But we did not interfere until the SIT began its investigation.”
He questioned why the state government remained silent when “false propaganda was being spread”, suggesting that the government’s inaction necessitated the BJP’s intervention.
With the SIT’s finding no mass graves so far, the focus has shifted from the alleged mass graves to the motives of the complainant and his handlers.
Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India’s space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi…Read More
Harish Upadhya, an Assistant Editor at CNN-News18, reports from Bengaluru. Political reporting is his forte. He also tracks India’s space journey, and is passionate about environmental reporting and RTI investi… Read More
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