Bengaluru, 28 August

Karnataka BJP on Thursday demanded that the SIT probe into allegations of multiple murders, rapes and burials in Dharmasthala over a period of the past two decades should be "time-bound".

The party's state President BY Vijayendra, rejecting allegations that the BJP was trying to politicise the case, questioned the Congress government's inaction against the conspirators and those behind the smear campaign against Dharmasthala.

Responding to a question while speaking to reporters, Vijayendra said, "Tomorrow we don't have any Assembly or Lok Sabha polls or any by-election. There is no need for the BJP to politicise this issue".

"Why did the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government not initiate action against the conspirators, against people who are spreading rumors? Why has no FIR been registered against those conspirators?" Vijayendra asked and termed "this is the issue".

He demanded that the Congress government respond to these questions first.

Stating that the BJP never opposed the government constituting the SIT to probe the Dharmasthala case, the state BJP chief said, "But during the course of investigation, when there was a series of false propaganda -- the Siddaramaiah government, despite being aware of the emotional connect that several crore devotees have towards Dharmasthala -- no FIR was booked against people behind it".

"When the Congress government can register FIRs within 24 hours against Hindu workers who post anything against the government, why did it fail to register an FIR against the conspirators in the Dharmasthala case?" he asked.

The BJP's stand is very clear, he said and added that let the SIT continue with its investigation, but there needs to be a proper timeline. Vijayendra further said, "They (SIT) cannot carry on the investigation for months together.

Crores and crores of people are already upset with the state government; their emotions and sentiments have been hurt because of the false propaganda."

"There needs to be a proper time-bound investigation," he insisted.

Noting that the BJP and the people of Karnataka have lost hope on the state government as far as exposing the conspirators are concerned, Vijayendra said, hence the BJP has organised "Dharma Jaagruti Samavesha" and "Dharmasthala Chalo" rally on 1 September.

"More than a lakh people will gather in Dharmasthala. All our senior leaders and people from across Karnataka, irrespective of their caste and party line, will be there in Dharmasthala that day," he added.

Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday had said that the SIT probe into the case is going on "seriously", and the government wants the investigation to be completed as soon as possible.

A controversy erupted after a complainant, the sanitation worker and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed burying a number of bodies, including those of women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over a period of past two decades, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple.

The SIT, formed by the state government, which is probing charges, has conducted exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites.