Karnataka News: Dharmasthala Row Escalates As Congress MP Faces Allegations Of Conspiracy

Bengaluru: The Dharmasthala `illegal mass burial' allegations continues to get new turns with the name of former Karnataka IAS officer and MP from Tamil Nadu Sasikanth Senthil being dragged as the main conspirator of the entire episode.

The BJP MLA from Udipi Yashpal Suvarna and Independent MLA from Gangavati G Janardhan Reddy have directly alleged that Senthil, who was earlier Mangaluru DC was the mastermind of the entire conspiracy to defame the Dharmasthala Temple. BJP MLA from Belthangadi Harish Punja had also earlier expressed his suspicion about the Congress MP's hand behind the conspiracy to defame Dharmasthala, using his left and Islamic organisation network he had built during his tenure as Mangaluru DC.

However, Yashpal Suvarna and Janardhan Reddy did not minced their words while leveling the charges against the Congress MP. ``The maskman was living in Tamil Nadu after he quit his job at Dharmasthala. The entire conspiracy had taken place in Tamil Nadu, where he was persuaded to make a false statement before the magistrate. Even the skull, which the maskman claimed that he dug it out of guilt and handed it over to the Dharmasthala police before lodging an official complaint, was handed over to him by Senthil,'' they two alleged.

Referring to the statement made by the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar that there was a very big conspiracy behind the current developments to defame Dharmasthala temple, the two MLAs pointed out that Sasikanth Senthil was very close to the Chief Minister as well he was sitting Congress MP. The two wondered if his role would be probed by the SIT at all.

Sasikanth Senthil, Karnataka cadre IAS officer, who had worked in various parts of the State, including Dakshina Kannada, before resigning from IAS, protesting against the CAA enacted by the Union government. In 2020, he joined Congress and campaigned for the party in Tamil Nadu elections. He also worked as main strategist in the Karnataka Congress election war room in 2023 and was credited for the party's success also.

In the 2024 General Elections to Parliament, Sasikanth Senthil was elected on Congress ticket from Tiruvallur Lok Sabha constituency.

While serving as Dakshina Kannada DC, the Sangh Parivar had a grouse against him that he was lenient towards left organisations as well as Islamic Organisations like PFI and SDPI. He had good rapport with many of leftist activists in the State and was close to many Congress politicians.