Bengaluru: Serious allegations of evidence tampering have emerged in the ongoing investigation into the Dharmasthala missing persons case. Advocate Manjunath N, who represents Sujatha Bhat, the mother of missing medical student Ananya Bhat, has claimed that a large quantity of fresh soil and waste was recently dumped in a sensitive forest area at the foot of Bahubali Hill, possibly to erase crucial evidence.
In a press release issued along with photographs, the advocate stated that excavation work had been undertaken in the forested zone on Saturday. However, according to him, around 10 feet of fresh soil and assorted waste were later deposited at the site, raising strong suspicion of foul play.
The location in question, he noted, is of particular significance to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the whistleblower’s allegations of mass burials in and around Dharmasthala. The dumping, he suggested, may have been carried out by influential vested interests seeking to obstruct the investigation.
Despite digging up to seven feet in the area where the fresh soil was placed, no human remains were found. Advocate Manjunath alleged that if such remains have now disappeared, it is unlikely to be due to natural causes and more probably the result of a deliberate attempt to remove or conceal them.
“The choice of this sensitive area for dumping waste so recently is highly suspicious,” he said in his statement, expressing confidence that the SIT would uncover the “conspiracy” behind the act.
The SIT is yet to issue an official statement regarding the allegations.



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Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
