Action will be taken if illegal burials in Dharmasthala are confirmed: Minister Eshwar Khandre
Bidar (Karnataka), Aug 6 (PTI): Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday said disciplinary action would be taken against department officials and staff if the ongoing investigation confirms that bodies were illegally buried in forest areas in Dharmasthala.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the state government, is probing allegations of mass murder, rape, and illegal burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
A former sanitation worker, whose identity has not been disclosed, claimed he was employed in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014 and was forced to bury several bodies, including those of women and minors. He also alleged that some of the bodies bore signs of sexual assault. The complainant has recorded a statement before a magistrate.
"The investigation is ongoing, and further action will be based on its findings. If there is any lapse or negligence on the part of forest officials, disciplinary action will be taken following the law," Khandre told reporters here.
Responding to the complainant’s claim that the bodies were buried on forest land, the minister said, "The investigation will reveal the nature of illegality—where it occurred, the survey number, under whose jurisdiction, and who is responsible. If illegality is established, appropriate action will certainly follow."
As part of the probe, the SIT has been inspecting multiple sites identified by the witness in forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala.
According to official sources, a human skull and several bones were found on Monday at the eleventh such location. On July 31, skeletal remains of a male were recovered at the sixth site pointed out by the witness.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
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.
