A day after a attorneys’ delegation met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanding a complete investigation within the Dharmasthala secret burials case, a retired Supreme Court docket choose, Justice V Gopala Gowda, on Thursday sought police safety for the whistleblower, who claims to have secretly buried the our bodies of a number of ladies within the temple city, and his attorneys.
Addressing a information convention, Justice Gowda alleged that the investigation into the case was not progressing correctly and that the statements recorded by the whistleblower earlier than a Justice of the Peace had been leaked.
“The federal government of Karnataka ought to order a probe by the Particular Investigation Group monitored by a retired excessive court docket choose,” he stated.
Noting that it has been three weeks because the whistleblower filed a police criticism and agreed to reveal the locations the place he claims to have secretly buried the our bodies, Justice Gowda stated the investigation was but to choose up tempo–a indisputable fact that he stated was indicative of the extent of affect exerted over the inquiry.
“When the witness himself has come ahead, the gradual tempo of investigation isn’t acceptable,” Justice Gowda stated.
Urging the state police chief, the chief minister, and Dwelling Minister G Parameshwara to supply the whistleblower with police safety, the previous choose stated the police could be held accountable if one thing untoward occurred to him.
“I’ve acquired info that attorneys who’re representing the case are being threatened. Additionally they require police safety,” Justice Gowda stated.
Among the many calls for made by Gowda and attorneys accompanying him have been complete forensic assist for the investigation with a devoted forensic science laboratory, video recording of the investigation, thorough crime scene evaluation, and quick arrest and custodial interrogation of “all personalities, no matter their affect, who’re discovered to be concerned in committing these crimes”.
A former sanitation employee, the whistleblower has stated that between 1998 and 2014, he had buried in Dharmasthala a number of feminine our bodies carrying indicators of sexual assault and was threatened in opposition to approaching the police.
