The explosive allegations surrounding the so-called “illegal mass burial” in Dharmasthala have now taken a dramatic twist, with Congress MP from Tamil Nadu and former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil being accused as the key conspirator according to a report by Free Press Journal.
BJP MLA from Udupi, Yashpal Suvarna, and Independent MLA from Gangavati, G. Janardhan Reddy, have squarely blamed Senthil—who once served as Mangaluru DC—for allegedly orchestrating a plot to tarnish the Dharmasthala Temple’s reputation. Earlier, Belthangadi BJP MLA Harish Punja had also hinted at Senthil’s possible involvement, accusing him of leveraging the leftist and Islamist networks he had cultivated during his administrative tenure.
VIDEO | Karnataka: Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari and Rajya Sabha MP Veerendra Heggadeon has termed as ‘baseless, false and morally wrong’ the allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala. He expressed deep hurt over the accusations, which he claimed were being amplified on social… pic.twitter.com/EkuZxMd4YI
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 19, 2025
The two legislators minced no words in their charge: the so-called “masked man” who claimed to have unearthed a skull and handed it over to police was allegedly acting at Senthil’s behest, with the entire drama scripted in Tamil Nadu after Senthil quit the IAS.
They further cited Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar’s remark about a “larger conspiracy” to malign the Dharmasthala Temple and questioned whether the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would dare probe Senthil, given his proximity to the Chief Minister and his position as a sitting Congress MP.
Who Is Sasikanth Senthil?
Sasikanth Senthil, a former IAS officer who quit service claiming to protest the abrogation of Article 370 and CAA, later joined the Congress in 2020.
He quickly rose in prominence—playing a key role in the party’s Tamil Nadu campaign and later heading Karnataka Congress’s election war room in 2023. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was elected from Tiruvallur.
He has faced serious allegations of corruption during his tenure as Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner. Critics called his resignation a PR stunt, pointing instead to charges that he created sand mining lobbies, misused permits for influential groups, and granted a GPS tender to a blacklisted firm in return for kickbacks.
Under his watch, sand prices reportedly spiked from ₹3,000 to ₹14,000, with the “Sand Bazar” app manipulated to benefit a select few. These accusations led to calls for a thorough probe into his abuse of power and the real reasons behind his resignation.
During his tenure as Dakshina Kannada DC, he was repeatedly accused of favoring leftist groups and organisations like PFI and SDPI, while maintaining close ties with Congress leaders.
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