Last Updated:
Dharmasthala case: “The NGOs that received foreign funding will be the under scanner. The ED has asked for relevant documents from police,” sources said
SIT officials with the alleged whistleblower in the Dharmasthala case. (PTI)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to begin an investigation into the Dharmasthala case, according to sources.
“The NGOs that received foreign funding will be the under scanner. The ED has asked for relevant documents from police. The focus is on NGOs Odanadi and Samvada for alleged foreign funding rule violations,” they said.
Recommended Stories
Sources added that banks have been asked to share account details as well information on transactions. Officials suspects the funds may have been used to support campaigns or activities connected to the narrative against Dharmasthala.
The Dharmasthala case
The Dharmasthala “mass burial” controversy took a dramatic turn in the last week of August with the arrest of CN Chinnayya alias Chenna, the sanitation worker who first came forward as a ‘masked whistleblower’ in the case. The 50-year-old has been booked for perjury after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) concluded that the evidence he produced was falsified.
According to SIT officials, forensic tests revealed that the skull Chinnayya submitted in court — which he claimed belonged to a young woman — was in fact that of a male.
Chinnayya had alleged that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced to bury the bodies of women, schoolgirls and other victims in Dharmasthala at the behest of “powerful individuals.”
His testimony — including a complaint filed on July 2 and a court appearance on July 11 where he produced skeletal remains — triggered uproar in the Karnataka Assembly, widespread public outrage, and ultimately led to the formation of an SIT under DGP Pronab Mohanty on July 19. Excavations were subsequently carried out at 17 sites he identified, using ground-penetrating radars and advanced imaging. The SIT also examined healthcare professionals, including forensic experts who conducted autopsies on over 70 decomposed bodies officially buried in Dharmasthala during the period. Officials maintain that despite extensive searches, there is no evidence to support claims of a mass burial.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is increasingly pressuring the Congress government in Karnataka to hand over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
About the Author
Arunima is Editor (Home Affairs) and covers strategic, security and political affairs. From the Ukraine-Russia War to the India-China stand-off in Ladakh to India-Pak clashes, she has reported from ground zero …Read More
Arunima is Editor (Home Affairs) and covers strategic, security and political affairs. From the Ukraine-Russia War to the India-China stand-off in Ladakh to India-Pak clashes, she has reported from ground zero … Read More
Loading comments…
Read More
