‘I buried hundreds of bodies’: Former sanitation worker blows lid off mass murder cover-up in Karnataka’s Dharmasthala

In a harrowing disclosure that threatens to shake the foundations of Karnataka’s Dharmasthala, a former sanitation worker has alleged that he was forced to bury the bodies of hundreds of murder victims — many of them young women who appeared to have been sexually assaulted and strangled.

His explosive letter to the police, released by advocates Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande, has now prompted an official investigation.

The man, whose identity remains concealed for his safety, claimed he served as a sanitation worker in Dharmasthala village from 1995 to 2014. During that time, he says, he was made to dispose of murder victims—some burned using diesel, others buried in scattered locations. In a deeply emotional confession, he said, “I have buried hundreds of bodies. Most were young women. No final rites were performed. The guilt haunts me.”

According to the letter, the worker fled Karnataka in 2014 following threats to his life and the sexual harassment of a female family member. He alleges that a supervisor physically assaulted him in 1998 when he refused to continue burying bodies and suggested reporting the crimes.

The man claims that behind the killings are “powerful persons,” whose names he is prepared to reveal once he and his family are granted protection under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

“I witnessed some of the murders being carried out in cruel ways,” he wrote. “I stayed silent out of fear, but my conscience won’t let me rest. The victims deserve dignity in death.”

The Dharmasthala Police registered a case on Friday under Section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for the alleged omission of information by a person legally bound to report it. Authorities have indicated they are prepared to exhume bodies from the alleged burial sites, pending court approval.

The gravity of the allegations has raised urgent questions about the possible scale of abuse, the silence of institutions, and whether a decade-long criminal conspiracy has remained buried—both literally and figuratively — in one of Karnataka’s holiest towns.

Police say a thorough investigation will now follow, even as pressure mounts to ensure the whistleblower’s safety and uncover the truth that may lie beneath the surface of Dharmasthala.