The Karnataka government has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations of multiple murders, sexual assaults, and cases of missing women in the Dharmasthala region of Dakshina Kannada district over the past two decades.

The order issued by the Congress-helmed state government says that it has found it “appropriate to form a SIT” to probe the crimes registered under relevant sections of the BNS at the Dharmasthala police station as well as all other related criminal cases registered/ to be registered in other police stations across Karnataka.

The allegations of mass graves came to light earlier this month when a sanitation worker filed a complaint with the police that he was forced to bury bodies, including those of women and minors, in the temple town between 1995 and 2014.

The four-member SIT will be headed by director-general of police (internal security division) Pranav Mohanty and will include additional commissioner of police (recruitment) M.N. Anucheth, deputy commissioner of police (CAR headquarters) Soumya Latha and superintendent of police (internal security division) Jitendra Kumar Dayama.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah decided to constitute the SIT after demands for a probe were raised by various quarters, including the state commission for women. The women’s commission had raised eyebrows after news broke on cases of missing women and female students, murders, unnatural deaths and rape in Dharmasthala over the past 20 years.

Home minister G. Parameshwara confirmed to reporters in Bengaluru that the government had constituted an SIT to look into the allegations. “There has been much hue and cry about what happened in Dharmasthala. The state government has taken note of this and decided to constitute a SIT,” he said.

The sensational case has given a harrowing time to the Siddaramaiah government. A section of Congress leaders suspects that the incident might be politically motivated. Parameshwara refused to dwell further on the issue.

According to the sanitation worker’s statement before the police, he had helped dispose several bodies and was now burdened by a guilty conscience. He has also agreed to help the police locate the graves if protection is guaranteed.

After the sanitation worker’s complaint hit the headlines, a 60-year-old woman came forward and complained that her daughter — a medical student — went missing in the temple town in 2003.

As the Siddaramaiah government dragged its feet on the case, the Congress also felt the heat from an ally in the INDIA bloc. CPI Rajya Sabha member P. Sandosh Kumar on Saturday wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah urging him to hand over the entire probe to the National Investigation Agency.

Stating that for years, locals have whispered about bodies being found in the forests surrounding Dharmasthala, the MP said: “These are not isolated aberrations. Taken together, they reveal signs of an organised criminal enterprise — one that has flourished under administrative silence.”

His rationale for demanding an NIA probe is that the local police were “implicated by their inaction and, at times, alleged complicity” — and, therefore, cannot be expected to ensure a fair and transparent process.

Lest he be accused of targeting a religious space given his political affiliation, Sandosh Kumar also made it clear that his demand for a probe comes from a place of respect. “Let me emphasise that this appeal is made in the firm belief that the spiritual sanctity of Dharmasthala must be protected — not just in ritual or appearance, but in truth, justice and transparency. A sacred town revered by devotees across India cannot remain clouded by fear, suspicion and buried truths.”