Mask man admits he acted on ‘certain directions’: Union Minister on Dharmasthala case

Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, claimed on Monday that the unknown complainant cum mask man has admitted to the authorities that he has acted on “certain directions” in the mass grave case.

Speaking to the media in Delhi, Pralhad Joshi demanded that the names of conspirators behind the ‘Dharmasthala conspiracy’ be revealed and that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should apologise to the people of the state for the government’s conduct in connection with handling mass grave allegations.

He said, “The masked man himself has now admitted that he acted on certain directions. From the beginning, without properly inquiring into this anonymous person, the government displayed irresponsibility. Therefore, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah must immediately seek the forgiveness of the people.”

He said that when the masked man claimed that hundreds of corpses of murder and rape victims were buried, the government should have interrogated him properly, arrested him, and taken further legal steps. Instead, the state government danced to his tune, Joshi alleged.

Joshi charged that after digging at all the spots pointed out by the masked man yielded nothing, the government is now singing the tune of ‘conspiracy.’ He asserted that the Congress government is directly responsible for the disorder created at Dharmasthala, a sacred centre of people’s faith.

“The state government has shown irresponsibility from the very beginning in the Dharmasthala 'farce'. The moment the allegation was made, without considering the background or implications, the government hastily formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for the sake of publicity. Excavations began in a hurry. As a result, not only Dharmasthala but society at large has witnessed confusion and chaos,” Joshi expressed deep disappointment.

He added that the government should have first carried out a simple verification of the masked man’s background. If what he said had turned out to be true, then a full police investigation should have been conducted, and only if necessary, an SIT could have been formed to carry out the probe.

“Instead, the government waited for an opportunity rather than necessity, and in its haste to form the SIT, the Congress government has displayed its leftist mindset. This has hurt people’s religious sentiments,” Joshi charged.

Pralhad Joshi demanded that even now, the state government must conduct a proper investigation, make public the names of all those involved in the conspiracy, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should apologise to the people of Karnataka.