Lawyers seek arrest of panchayat vice-president

Mangaluru: The ongoing investigation into the alleged mass burials in temple town of Dharmasthala has taken a politically sensitive turn, with legal representatives of the whistle-blower Sujatha Bhat demanding the arrest of the vice-president of the local Gram Panchayat for his alleged role in facilitating or covering up the burial of unclaimed bodies.The case, currently under Special Investigation Team (SIT) scrutiny, was triggered by a former sanitation worker’s testimony that he was made to bury dozens—possibly hundreds—of unidentified or mutilated bodies between 1995 and 2014.

On Monday, Bhat’s lawyers told reporters that the elected representatives of the Gram Panchayat, particularly the vice-president, must be investigated under charges of criminal conspiracy and breach of civic duty. They argued that the absence of burial records, a mandated responsibility of local self-governments, was a red flag pointing to institutional complicity.

“We have reason to believe that the Gram Panchayat either facilitated or ignored these burials despite knowing the irregularities,” said one of the advocates, adding that failure to act was tantamount to aiding the crime.

The lawyers also demanded that the SIT question the Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) for not maintaining proper death registration and burial logs, as required under Karnataka Panchayat Raj rules.

The SIT has so far identified 13–15 suspected grave sites, all currently guarded by Special Action Force personnel.

As public pressure grows, local governance structures are being scrutinised for systemic failures in one of the state’s most high-profile investigations in recent years.