BJP Escalates Dharmasthala Central Probe Demand With March To Temple Town

Karnataka's opposition BJP is pushing ahead with its demand for a Central investigation into the huge controversy over allegations of murder and burial of young girls in pilgrim town Dharamsthala. The party has claimed nearly 1 lakh people took part in the foot march, which it described as a show of solidarity against what it termed an "attempt to vilify the temple and its traditions".

The allegations by one CN Chinnayya that surfaced in July, had sparked a huge uproar and the case went through multiple twists and turns that saw the arrest of the man making the allegations on charges of perjury. The police say the issue is a conspiracy revolving around the cases of women disappearing in Dharmasthala. 

The BJP alleges that its motive is to discredit the temple town and the temple authorities. 

Today, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, former Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, Leader of the Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka, BJP state president BY Vijayendra, MPs and other senior leaders participated in the "Dharmasthala Chalo" march. 

State BJP chief BY Vijayendra urged the Centre to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation or the National Investigation Agency. The rally, the BJP said, was intended to counter a "smear campaign" against one of Karnataka's most prominent religious and cultural centres.

Mr Vijayendra accused the Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of having "failed to deliver justice" to the Hindu community.

BJP ally JD(S), meanwhile, launched their Dharmasthala Satya Yatra from Kandali village in Hassan taluk on Sunday. The march was led by JD(S) youth wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy. 

He had earlier announced that the rally would be taken out "in support of Dharmasthala and against the people who are conspiring against the temple town. 

The rally, which started from Kandali village at 8 am, had reached Dharmasthala around 1 pm.

Mr Siddaramaiah has consistently refused to have an NIA probe into the matter, arguing the state police are capable enough to handle the case. The Special Investigation Team looking into the matter is expected to file a detailed progress report before the court next week.

Chennayya had alleged that he was forced by the authorities of the temple of Lord Manjunath Swamy -- an incarnation of Lord Shiva --  to bury hundreds of women and girls in the town in Karnataka's Mangaluru district. But multiple digs at the 13 sites he named, and several he didn't, uncovered human bone fragments from only two sites.

Police sources now say the man was in touch with activists opposing the temple management. During a spot inspection yesterday, investigators seized multiple documents, digital records, and other material expected to help corroborate witness statements and timelines, they said.

The SIT is now preparing to travel to Delhi as part of its inquiry. The arrested complainant, also referred to as the "masked man" given his initial insistence of keeping his identity secret, has revealed that he had carried a skull to Delhi and met certain people there.