Dharmasthala Mass Burials Case BIG UPDATE from Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala temple

Dharmasthala Mass Burials: As of today, July 21, 2025, the major update regarding the Dharmasthala case is that the Karnataka government has formally constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Dharmasthala Mass Burials Case BIG UPDATE from Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala temple.

The Karnataka government officially formed an SIT on Saturday, July 19, 2025, to investigate the serious allegations of mass burials, disappearances, sexual assaults, and murders at Dharmasthala.

The SIT will be led by DGP Pronab Mohanty, Director-General of Police (Internal Security Division and Cyber Command). Other members include DIG (Recruitment) MN Anucheth, DCP (CAR HQ) Soumyalatha, and SP Jitendra Kumar Dayama.

The SIT’s mandate is broad. It will investigate all criminal cases reported or likely to be reported in connection with these allegations across all police stations in the state, essentially taking over from local police.

The Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala temple administration has issued its first official statement, welcoming the formation of the SIT and expressing hope that the SIT will conduct a “highest level of investigation” to “bring out the true facts to light.”

This new wave of investigation was triggered by a former sanitation employee of the Dharmasthala temple who claimed to have been forced to secretly bury multiple bodies of people, allegedly “raped and murdered,” at Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014. He has reportedly provided skeletal remains and recorded his statement before a magistrate.

The formation of the SIT comes after significant public outcry, demands from the Karnataka State Commission for Women, various activist groups, lawyers, and political figures (including the BJP seeking re-investigation of the Sowjanya case) for a thorough and independent probe.

The ongoing developments are heavily linked to the 2012 Sowjanya rape and murder case, which many believe was mishandled and led to a miscarriage of justice with the acquittal of the lone accused. Activists and the whistleblower’s lawyers have specifically highlighted the need for the new SIT to avoid the pitfalls of the previous investigation into the Sowjanya case.

: The new allegations have also prompted families of other missing persons, like the mother of medical student Ananya Bhat (missing since 2003 from Dharmasthala), to file fresh complaints, hoping for answers.

In essence, today’s news confirms that the government has yielded to pressure and set up a high-level team to delve into the very serious and long-standing allegations surrounding Dharmasthala, including revisiting older cases like Sowjanya’s in the broader context of the newly revealed mass burial claims.

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