A day after a lawyers’ delegation met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanding a comprehensive investigation in the Dharmasthala secret burials case, a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice V Gopala Gowda, on Thursday sought police protection for the whistleblower, who claims to have secretly buried the bodies of several women in the temple town, and his lawyers.
Addressing a news conference, Justice Gowda alleged that the investigation into the case was not progressing properly and that the statements recorded by the whistleblower before a magistrate had been leaked.
“The government of Karnataka should order a probe by the Special Investigation Team monitored by a retired high court judge,” he said.
Noting that it has been three weeks since the whistleblower filed a police complaint and agreed to disclose the places where he claims to have secretly buried the bodies, Justice Gowda said the investigation was yet to pick up pace–a fact that he said was indicative of the extent of influence exerted over the inquiry.
“When the witness himself has come forward, the slow pace of investigation is not acceptable,” Justice Gowda said.
Urging the state police chief, the chief minister, and Home Minister G Parameshwara to provide the whistleblower with police protection, the former judge said the police would be held responsible if something untoward happened to him.
“I have received information that lawyers who are representing the case are being threatened. They also require police protection,” Justice Gowda said.
Among the demands made by Gowda and lawyers accompanying him were comprehensive forensic support for the investigation with a dedicated forensic science laboratory, video recording of the investigation, thorough crime scene analysis, and immediate arrest and custodial interrogation of “all personalities, irrespective of their influence, who are found to be involved in committing these crimes”.
A former sanitation worker, the whistleblower has said that between 1998 and 2014, he had buried in Dharmasthala several female bodies carrying signs of sexual assault and was threatened against approaching the police.