In a development that is set to undermine public confidence in the current Dharmasthala mass burial probe, a top policeman in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been accused of harassing an important protected witness. The development has raised questions regarding the impartiality of the investigation, already under heavy national and media glare.
Complainant's lawyer Ananya Gowda, who appears for complainant 'X' has lodged a complaint with the SIT charging that Inspector Manjunath Gowda of Sirsi Rural police station intimidated and coerced the witness late at night on August 1 within the SIT camp at Belthangady.
As per the complaint, Inspector Gowda called 'X' to a closed room and threatened him with arrest and imprisonment for life regarding the initial complaint lodged at the Dharmasthala police station. The officer also reportedly coerced 'X' into retracting his statement and falsely implicate unknown "outsiders" for influencing the complaint.
"Manjunath Gowda has instructed the whistleblower to reject the initial complaint he made by recording it on his private mobile phone," reads the complaint filed by Advocate Ananya Gowda.
She, further, asserted that the intimidation has caused irreparable damage to the witness's ability to speak freely in the presence of the officer, thereby calling the incident "shocking".
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We call for Inspector Manjunath Gowda to be removed forthwith from the investigation team. His presence jeopardises the integrity of this investigation and compromises the safety of the witness," the advocate said in her letter to SIT leadership.
A senior SIT officer confirmed that the issue is being addressed "with the utmost seriousness" and an internal examination is ongoing.
The Dharmasthala case has garnered huge national attention in the wake of grim charges of mass burial in forest tracts ringing the global spiritual town. The SIT has found skeletal remains in at least five of six locations hitherto identified by complainants, although new remains were not found at two sites dug up on Friday.
The allegation of coercion has revived demands for robust protection of the whistleblower in the case. "This is no longer buried bones it's now whether the machinery of the state is gagging people who are seeking the truth," added a civil rights activist who did not want to be named.
Sources in the Department of Home confirmed that the complaint, along with supporting facts, was brought to the attention of the highest officials, and that Advocate Ananya Gowda's letter has officially been received. If proved, the incident could call for criminal prosecution of the officer under the Witness Protection Act and applicable IPC provisions.
As the case progresses, everyone keeps their eyes fixed on DGP Pronab Mohanty, under whose leadership everyone hopes to get back the confidence in an investigation that everyone thinks will reveal seriously entrenched institutional flaws.
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