On July 3rd, 2025, a whistleblower who had been hiding for over a decade came forward with an “insurmountable sense of guilt”, making shocking revelations surrounding the Hindu temple town of Dharmasthala, Karnataka. Whistleblower’s Statement
The whistleblower, a 48-year-old man who had worked as a sanitation worker in the temple from 1995 to 2014, claimed to have disposed of over a hundred bodies, mostly of females. At the beginning of his employment, he noticed dead bodies near the Mosthavati River, which he was instructed to either burn with diesel to erase every trace. The corpses he found were without clothes or undergarments, with some of them having signs of sexual assault, violence, acid burns and strangulation. Many times, those were bodies of minor girls. He said he was threatened to work for them or else his supervisors would kill him and his family.
In 2014, a girl from his family was sexually harassed by someone connected to the temple supervisors, which led to the realisation to escape from there with his family. The family has been in hiding in a neighbouring state, changing houses since then. Additionally, he belongs to the most marginalised and persecuted section of society, the Dalits.
On July 11th, he presented himself before the magistrate, gave a statement and handed over the skeletal remains as evidence of his complaint. He was covered in black, with his eyes open.
Long History of Allegations
In the 1980s, there were repeated protests regarding the discovery of bodies of rape-and-murder victims near Dharmasthala. In 1987, after the rape and murder of 1a 7-year-old, Padmalata, people marched in the town to expose alleged cover-ups by influential figures, later quashed through intimidation and legal pressure, reportedly. In 2003, the disappearance of medical student Ananya Bhat was linked to the allegation of a mass murder case. “Justice for Sowjanya” movement rose in 2012 when a teenager was rapea d and murdered. Though the case was transferred to CBI due to public pressure, it remains unsolved to this date. S Balan, a senior lawyer in the High Court and human rights activist, said that the killings and mysterious disappearances date back to 1979.
Behind the Temple Administration
The temple administration of disappearances has been headed by the powerful Heggade family since the establishment of the temple. Veerendra Heggade serves as the 21st Dharmadhikari, hereditary head of the temple. Heggade is a member of the Rajya Sabha nominated by Ramnath Kovind, BJP’s first President. He is also a recipient of the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan.
On July 20th, the temple authorities expressed support for a “fair and transparent” investigation by the SIT to uncover the truth. The official spokesperson for Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, K Parshwanath Jain, said thatthe whistleblower’s complaint has “triggered public debate and confusion.”
Developments in the Case
Sujata Bhat, mother of Ananya Bhat and retired CBI stenographer, publicly responded and filed a new complaint on 15th July with the police. She recalled that she was discouraged from pursuing the case further. She appealed that the remains of her daughter be found to perform her last rites.
Gag orders were issued for reporting information critical of Heggade; additionally, around 8000 links of news portals and posts on social media were ordered to be deleted by a lower court, which alleged involvement of the Heggade family or temple trust in the case while the mainstream Kannada media was silent. The Karnataka High Court overturned the order, er and the Supreme Court refused to ban journalists for covering the case.
Another FIR related to the case was filed by four individuals from three YouTube channels alleging assault and vandalism of two vehicles by a mob alleging links to Heggade, on 6th August.
Leader of the opposition in the state assembly and senior BJP member, R. Ashok, called the allegations a conspiracy to tarnish the temple’s image, and the whistleblower was a Muslim.
SIT’s Investigation
SIT searched a total of 20 sites; a red blouse, PAN card and ATM card were found at a site. At the 6th site, skeletal remains were found. At the 14th site, a skeleton resembling a male was found with a saree and slippers. Two villagers, Purandara Gowda and Tukaram Gowda, had appeared before SIT claiming to have seen bodies being buried from an Ambassador’s boot.
Jayanth T, activist, lodged a complaint for witnessing a burial of the body of a teenage girl 15 years back.
In response to an RTI, the Public Information Officer of the gram panchayat revealed 279 unclaimed bodies were buried. Records state 17 bodies were buried during 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2014-2015 and 101 bodies in the past decade. A doctor previously working at the Primary Health Centre confirmed the burials as bodies started decomposing, reportedly.
Turning Point
The case took a shocking flip when the skull produced by the whistleblower turned out to be a male skull bought from a research centre. SIT booked him under perjury, publicising his identity as C. N. Chinnayya and revealed more connections. Mahesh Shetty Timrodi, Girish Mattannavar, Jayanth T have been interrogated. Timrodi listed 4 Unidentified Death Reports from police records during 2006-2010; their unclaimed status.
SIT also received a letter from villagers stating that they live in fear and have identified Chinnayya to have transported bodies in the past. Also, they are willing to guide SIT to the burial locations. 30 complaints over missing persons and authorised disposal of bodies were received by SIT.
SIT also interrogated Mpersons Kerala based YouTuber who posted a video of Jayanth handling a skull near the upper reaches of Banglegudde, which propagated Jayanth’s version. He also used Sujatha’s case to fabricate mass atro, cities in Dharmasthala.
Five more skeletal sets were found at five different spots in the Banglegudde forest using information provided by Vittala Gowda, Saujanya’s uncle. The other two skulls were found to be male as well. ID card found at the site indicated the remains to be of U. B. Ayyappa of T Shettigeri village of Ponnampetin tin thedistin the districtet of skeletal was identified of Adishesha Narayana of Dasarakallahalli of Tumakuru district using a driving licence found near the remains.
Two primary ambulance drivers of the region in the past, Jaleel and Hameed, stated that the bodies they transported for post-mortem were as per police records and were cases of suicides, accidental drownings, and post-mortem bodies.
Sujatha Bhat retracted from her statement before SIT, admitting she had no daughter and made a false statement under the influence of Jayanth, Mattannavar and others. Chinnayya claimed that the skull was given to him by Vittala Gowda.
Girish Mattannavar, Mahesh Shetty Timarodi, Jayanth T and Vittala Gowda petitioned for facing harassment during SIT interrogations. Jayanth T also wrote a letter to the Governor and Director General of Police alleging torture and pressure to give false statements.
On 20th November, SIT submitted the interim report of 3923 pages to the Beltangady court. The report names Chinnayya, Timarodi, Mattannavar, Jayanth T and Sujata Bhat as accused for making sensational claims. The gang allegedly used YouTube to spread fabricated stories and generate fake AI videos.
Chinnayya spent 3 months in Shivamogga Central Prison before being released on 18th December, whereas the other five were never arrested, though he had reportedly stated during his interrogation about the danger to his life due to the gang, which supplied him with the skull indicating the mastermind was someone bigger. A mere sanit, whichn worker remains the only individual to be punished for plotting a conspiracy against a powerful temple, as the case remains pending to date.
References:
- Several articles were referenced from DiajiWorld
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15213882
- https://frontline.thehindu.com
- https://www.aljazeera.com
- https://www.moneycontrol.com
- https://indianexpress.com