Dharmasthala, a sacred Hindu temple town in Karnataka, is a pilgrimage centre revered by millions, feeding lakhs of devotees daily. It is dedicated to Lord Manjunatha Swamy and regarded as a spiritual and cultural stronghold of Hinduism, especially among Kannadigas. The sacred institution became the subject of a highly orchestrated and systematic campaign of defamation and attack, primarily by Leftist media. Fingers have also been pointed towards a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu alleging that he is behind the orchestrated campaign targeting the temple town.
With their web of lies now collapsing like a pack of cards, let’s trace how various players, at different points in time, worked in tandem to manufacture and push this false narrative.
The Very Beginning – Sameer MD’s AI Video
It all began when a sanitary worker with a mask over his face came to the police with a few lawyers claiming he buried several 100s of girls and women who were allegedly sexually assaulted, burned with acid, and murdered over 2 decades.
Sameer MD, a fairly unknown YouTuber, came up with an AI-generated video of the allegations. The masked man who he refers to as Bheema is the central character and based the entire video as if the allegations were “absolute truth”.
Police said the video, circulated on YouTube, contained fabricated content, not present in official complaints or court records, and could incite public unrest. Sameer has been charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including giving false information and fabricating evidence.
This video centers on the allegations made by the masked man who alleges he was forced to secretly bury – Sameer went on to state that “over 1,000 bodies were buried on the orders of his supervisors”, with the complicity of local police paid off by the temple’s management. The video claims most victims were women and underage girls who were raped and murdered, their bodies found in temple lodges.
A specific, graphic allegation is made regarding the disposal of the body of Soujanya, a previous rape and murder case victim, and the mysterious death of a key witness, Ravi Poojari.
He claimed these burials were done with police connivance.
The video is presented not as an allegation but as established fact, using highly emotional and provocative language (e.g., “Shiva Tandava,” “final war”). It directly accuses the temple head, Veerendra Heggade, and his family of being behind a vast criminal conspiracy of murder and cover-up.
Sameer narrates the entire “story” as if he had seen it happen in front of his eyes. Too many unverified claims, too many lies, and a cinematic and concocted story – this is basically what the video is all about. The language is deliberately inflammatory, designed to provoke outrage. He also calls for street protests saying, “You have to come to the streets and protest against this injustice. Everyone should raise their voice and if any scoundrel comes in between and tries to create Hindu-Muslim divide, beat that son of b**** with slippers.”
It is noteworthy that Sameer had his claim to fame when he posted a similar video about the Sowjanya murder case a few months prior. He was booked for that video which the Karnataka High Court ordered to be removed.
The News Minute’s Over The Top “Coverage”
The News Minute abandoned all journalistic principles of neutrality and verification to actively promote an unverified, sensationalist narrative. They published over 20+ reports in a short period, treating the masked accuser’s extraordinary claims as established fact without demanding credible evidence. Their reporters, including Pooja Prasanna and Shivani Kava, used leading questions, dismissed plausible explanations from local authorities, and framed procedural caution by police as proof of a cover-up.
They strategically conflated the new allegations with decades-old, unrelated tragedies to create a false pattern and emotionally manipulate their audience. TNM’s interviews, particularly with the accuser’s lawyer, served to amplify the conspiracy theory while shifting the burden of proof onto the temple management. They weaponized legal gag orders, portraying them not as a complex legal matter but as definitive proof of guilt.
When partial skeletal remains were found, TNM immediately declared it a “major breakthrough” validating the entire narrative, despite the remains later being proven to belong to males who died long before the alleged events, completely contradicting the core accusation. Throughout, they solicited public donations to fund what was essentially a propaganda campaign, presenting advocacy as “independent journalism.” This entire effort has now collapsed after the accuser and key “witnesses” confessed to lying, exposing TNM’s reporting as a reckless and agenda-driven attempt to defame a revered Hindu institution.
Tamil YouTubers Show Their Loyalty To Anti-Hindu Cause
Several Tamil YouTubers played a central role in amplifying unverified claims, turning the issue into a spectacle of conspiracy and sensationalism. Channels such as Maayam Studios, Nakkheeran, Damodaran Prakash, Jeeva Today, Roots Tamil, Edison Vlogs, News I Tamil, Yoot Evidence, Ask Raghulan, Saravanan Decodes, Paari Saalan, and Sha Boo Three pushed narratives that blurred the line between speculation and fact.
Most of these creators presented the whistleblower’s allegations of mass burials and sexual violence as established truth, despite the absence of forensic or judicial confirmation. They routinely recycled decades-old, unrelated cases and wove them into sweeping conspiracy theories implicating the Dharmasthala temple administration, politicians, and police in systemic abuse and cover-ups. Graphic descriptions, exaggerated numbers, and horror-style presentation were used to provoke outrage, attract views, and monetize tragedy.
Some channels, such as News I Tamil and Saravanan Decodes, went further by violating gag orders and directly accusing individuals, thus crossing into defamation and contempt of court. Others, like Roots Tamil and Paari Saalan, injected political and communal undertones, portraying the issue as a Hindu institutional conspiracy tied to BJP and RSS, thereby polarizing the discourse. Meanwhile, influencers like Edison Vlogs and Ask Raghulan openly indulged in reckless sensationalism, even hinting at vigilante justice.
Other Indian Media & Fake News Experts Join The Bandwagon
Some mainstream news channels like Times Now and other YouTubers across the country joined the content creation spree by amplifying baseless claims.
Times Now Amplified False Claims
When the allegations came to light, Times Now also participated in the chaos to report from the site of the burials, showing the skull and what not. They had already named the case “Dharmasthala Secret Files”.
Dharmasthala ‘Secret’ Files
‘I was coerced into secretly disposing off multiple dead bodies…’- Former sanitation worker in K’taka’s Dharmasthala makes a sensational claim.
TIMES NOW’s @NehaHebbs visits the site in Dharmasthala; ‘human skull’ spotted at the location | #Watch pic.twitter.com/XvhtBCRljd
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 10, 2025
Reporter TV
This Malayalam news channel which is heavily leftist in its reporting carried a malicious campaign against the Dharmasthala temple and administration. Here is a look at the extent of their coverage.
Kerala-based MediaOne
Media One, ran a show where panelists
claimed since accusation is against powerful people and are
close to power so investigation is not being held properly.
Newslaundry
Piggybacking on TNM’s reports, Newslaundry also maligned Dharmasthala temple and the administration. They followed TNM’s lead to connect all the deaths in the town to the mass burial case.
Manisha Pandey of Newslaundry cast
aspersions on Dharmasthala Administration Head
Veerendra Hegde for seeking a legal injunction to take
down content related to a case that is still under
investigation. She praised The News Minute for its
reporting on the Dharmasthala case.
Just watch how Manisha Pandey of NewsLaundry spreads innuendos and insinuations against Dharmasthala Administration Head Veerendra Hegde for pursuing a legal injunction to remove all content about a case THAT IS UNDER INVESTIGATION!
What garbage journalism is this? https://t.co/11yvpSabHO pic.twitter.com/3qqpWq1pim
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) August 24, 2025
Mohammed Zubair
Mohammed Zubair amplified the Dharmasthala controversy by sharing and praising media reports, particularly from The News Minute, which portrayed Hindu institutions negatively. He used their coverage to bolster his own narrative, framing the temple and associated individuals as engaged in wrongdoing. However, once the SIT found no evidence and the whistleblower was arrested, Zubair quietly deleted his celebratory tweet without issuing any clarification, apology, or acknowledgment of error. He plainly used the strategy of aggressively highlighting alleged Hindu misdeeds while retreating silently when the claims are disproven, avoiding accountability and displaying selective engagement with similar incidents involving other communities.
SR Pay
The YouTube channel SR Pay pushed a
fake narrative about Dharmasthala temple, presenting the
masked man’s story and claims as if they were fully verified.
The video framed it as though a massive scandal was
unfolding inside the temple. As of today, this video has 1.4 million views.
Apart from the ones shared by Sameer MD, a few other Kannada and Hindi YouTube channels also did their “bit” to malign the institution. Here is an example.
Study IQ IAS
Study IQ IAS YouTube channel also made an elaborate video on the issue, but it was all nonsense that was propagated. This video is now private.
Look at how Study IQ IAS (19.9 million subscribers!!) covered the Dharmasthala Incident!
Quoting from the Description Section of the Video:
"In this gripping investigation, Varun Jauhari uncovers the chilling truth behind the Dharmasthala Mass Burial Case, where 400 women… pic.twitter.com/9fxp89Zgp2
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) August 24, 2025
Desi Studios
This channel shared a video titled “Who Is Behind Dharmasthala’s Dark Truth? | Sowjanya, Ananya and 1000 Other Bodies.” In the video, he also calls Dharamsthala a hub of political power and makes some more baseless claims.
SDPI & CPI Demand SIT Probe
The SDPI entered the Dharmasthala case by demanding a high court monitored SIT probe into claims by a former sanitation worker that he buried sexual assault victims’ bodies for over a decade. At a press conference, SDPI state president Abdul Majid accused Belthangady police of negligence, citing unsolved rapes, murders, and disappearances, and called for suspension of local officers. He demanded compensation and protection for families, as well as a public hearing for victims’ relatives. SDPI also announced a statewide agitation to mobilize support and pressure the government to act on the allegations.
CPI Rajya Sabha MP Sandosh Kumar urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to hand over the Dharmasthala burials case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In his letter, he alleged a decades-long pattern of crimes in Dharmasthala targeting women, silenced through coercion, and concealed with impunity citing cases from 1979 to Soujanya’s 2012 murder. He said successive governments failed to ensure credible probes, with SITs and review committees never properly constituted. Highlighting intimidation of activists and families seeking justice, he argued that only an NIA probe could ensure truth and accountability, while safeguarding the spiritual sanctity of Dharmasthala.
The very formation of the SIT to probe into Dharmasthala “mass burial” allegations reveal how politics, not proof, set the agenda. Congress minister Dinesh Gundu Rao openly conceded that the Special Investigation Team was created not on the strength of credible evidence, but because of sustained agitation from Left-leaning activists. His admission laid bare that the SIT itself was a political concession rather than a fact-driven necessity.
Key agitators “activists” and other political parties were central in manufacturing this pressure. Some activists used the tragic Soujanya case as a rallying cry; they continually linked the incident to Dharmasthala and its Dharmadhikari, Dr. Veerendra Heggade, without presenting any substantiating proof. Instead of allowing the legal process to run its course, they sought to turn public anger into a weapon, feeding suspicion and hostility toward the temple administration.
Seen in this light, the SIT was never about fact-finding. It was about appeasing those intent on tarnishing a sacred Hindu institution. What emerged was not justice, but an agenda to weaken Hindu centers of worship under the convenient banner of “activism.”
Masked Man’s Lawyer Asks Kerala Govt To Intervene
Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay on 17 July 2025 urged the Kerala government to pass a resolution in the Assembly seeking a high-standard probe into the Dharmasthala mass burials case. He suggested that Kerala Police be allowed to assist, which would require the state to approach the Supreme Court.
His appeal followed a complaint submitted to him by the whistleblower, including identity documents linked to Dharmasthala, to ensure the truth was preserved if anything happened to him.
He used The News Minute as a platform to shift the burden of proof onto the state, insisting that unless police “dig and disprove,” the whistleblower’s allegations must be accepted as truth. Dhananjay claimed the witness, born into a marginalized caste, was motivated by guilt and fear of God. He suggested “powerful people” were obstructing the probe and speculated that bodies could be moved during delays. Presenting these claims as prima facie true, he insisted they warranted serious investigation despite lacking corroborating evidence.
International Media Roped In
Joining the propaganda bandwagon was Al Jazeera and BBC – this came at a time when the leftists and other conspirators did not get the desired reaction from the public.
Al Jazeera
The Qatari government-funded propaganda outlet that is known for peddling anti-Hindu and anti-India narratives made even worse allegations than TNM and other leftist media. They first published an article on 22 July 2025, then went on to publish a video.
The video published on 25 July 2025 starts by framing the issue as “one of the worst serial killings in history.”
Then they shift to the “whistleblower” and identify him as “Dalit”, then they go on to say, “According to Hinduism’s caste system, the Dalits are at the bottom. They’re considered unpure and are often persecuted in India. As per tradition, temple administrators are from a higher caste.”
BBC – Tamil & Kannada
BBC’s video was in Kannada and they even interviewed Sujatha Bhat who recanted her statement saying she did not have a daughter, but she keeps making u-turns. BBC Kannada published the below video on 1 August 2025.
They published the Telugu version on the same date.
They published the same video in Tamil also, but 10 days later – on 10 August 2025.
”நான் நூற்றுக்கணக்கான சடலத்தை புதைத்தேன்”
இந்தியாவை உலுக்கிய தர்மஸ்தலா விவகாரம் – என்ன நடக்கிறது? BBC Ground Report #Dharmasthala pic.twitter.com/UO0971MWPS
— BBC News Tamil (@bbctamil) August 10, 2025
The Diplomat
The Diplomat, an international current affairs magazine for the APAC region joined the “coverage on 11 August 2025 without any verification of facts.
Relying purely on sensationalism, The Diplomat, like its peers furthered the leftist narrative to tarnish the temple and administration.
People.com
American weekly magazine People.com repeated the unverified claims of
the masked man about Dharmasthala temple with an article on 25 July 2025. Citing Al Jazeera, DW, and India Today, the report added graphic descriptions of corpses, threats, and killings while presenting the temple as
the center of horrific crimes. The article amplified the
allegations without balancing them with the SIT’s findings
or the temple’s stance, casting the institution in a deeply
negative light.
DW
German media house DW published an article on 28 July 2025 framing the Dharmasthala temple as the site of a horrific scandal. It amplified the claims of the masked man.
ABC News
Australian news outlet ABC News published an article on 17 August 2025 repeating the same lies.
“Activists” Thimarodi and Mattennavar’s Role In Defaming The Dharmadhikari
Amplifying this propaganda were “activists” Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi and Girish Mattennavar, campaigning under the Justice for Sowjanya banner, pressed for an SIT, gave legitimacy to the masked man’s allegations.
However, a series of leaked WhatsApp messages and sting recordings have revealed that self-styled activists involved in the Justice for Sowjanya campaign were openly plotting to target Dharmadhikari Dr. Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala. In one video, activist Somnath Nayak’s Civil Service Trust admitted that Heggade was their “target,” stating that they had already sent him a 210-page compilation of documents and court papers and demanded a press conference in Dharmasthala. The leaked chat makes clear that their campaign was not about establishing facts, but about ensuring that Heggade was forced to “bow to the law” and even “go to jail.” They expressed support for agitators like Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi and suggested using public sentiment, particularly the Soujanya case, to corner the temple administration.
The sting further exposed contradictions: while they admitted Heggade had no direct role in Soujanya’s murder, they insisted he tried to shield the accused, framing him as complicit. They also discussed selectively releasing interviews and videos to build a hostile narrative, admitting that their ultimate strategy was to exploit public emotions against Dharmasthala.
In another video, journalist Rakesh Shetty highlighted how these activists repeatedly shifted versions of events, named and dropped people inconsistently, and relied on speculation and cinematic exaggeration rather than evidence. He compared their tactics to a “KGF-style fairy tale,” pointing out how accusations kept changing and no cross-examination was ever allowed.
Political Conspiracy – Claimed By Dy CM DK Shivakumar
On 14 August 2025, the Karnataka government, through Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, announced it will take strict legal action against individuals responsible for spreading false propaganda and misinformation about the Dharmasthala pilgrimage centre in an alleged mass grave case. Shivakumar emphasized the government’s commitment to the rule of law and stated that no one will be protected from prosecution for making false allegations and defaming the revered religious institution.
Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil Allegedly Involved
On 19 August 2025, as per a Free Press Journal report, Congress MP from Tamil Nadu and former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil was alleged to be the key conspirator. 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.
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.
How The Lies Fell Apart
The former sanitation worker, whose July 3 testimony before a magistrate ignited a national firestorm, has now provided a detailed confession to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). He stated that a gang approached him in Chennai in December 2023.
“They asked me how many bodies I had buried when I worked in Dharmasthala. I told them the truth: that I had legally buried the bodies of pilgrims who came for salvation, through the police and gram panchayat,” the masked man stated. “But the gang insisted that I should say that the bodies were buried illegally. They pressured me… they changed my mind.”
The complainant revealed that the gang brought him to Karnataka, trained him on what to say in court, and even provided him with the skull and bone fragments he submitted as evidence which forensic reports later confirmed belonged to a man who died 30 years ago. He further confessed that he was instructed to coordinate his false testimony with another complainant, Sujatha Bhat, who had filed a missing person report for her daughter.
The SIT has since confirmed that the skull and bone fragments were of men who had died decades earlier, undermining the complainant’s earlier claims. Excavations at 17 sites identified by him yielded no evidence of mass graves. At one site, partial skeletal remains were found but were confirmed to be male, dating back 30 years.
Sujatha Bhat also recanted her statement saying Ananya Bhat was not her daughter. She admitted she was lying but later said it was out of coercion.
The masked man was identified as Chinnaiah and was arrested by the police for perjury.
Questions None Of These “Activists” Asked
None of these so-called “champions of truth”, women’s safety crusaders, asked the questions that should have been asked in the first place. While the case has crumbled into dust, these questions should have been asked when the masked man made his first appearance.
Why did the masked man contact the lawyers in July 2025? What happened to him all these years?
Why did he bring pictures of the skull/remains instead of the original?
How did he manage to bury them in such difficult terrain when the excavators were finding it difficult to dig in the mountains?
How did he manage to dig deep pits all by himself when the excavators dug massive pits?
How did he manage to get the Supreme Court lawyers’ contacts?
How was he able to repeatedly transport and bury bodies in a busy pilgrimage town without ever being seen by pilgrims, other staff, or security?
How did he physically transport a body to these remote, difficult terrain sites seen, often alone?
He claims to have kept a skull as evidence. Why that one? What made that victim different?
How did the families not notice? How was there no outcry or investigation into such a massive number of disappearances?
But everyone took his statement as established facts and pushed the narrative against the institution.
Truth Always Wins
After running such a malicious campaign against a revered pilgrimage site of the Hindus, the leftists and the evil forces behind this entire conspiracy stand exposed.
Despite such a concerted attack, truth prevailed. The skull submitted as “evidence” turned out to be that of a male who died decades ago. The burial sites yielded no proof. The “whistleblower” confessed to being coached by a gang from Chennai. Sujatha Bhat admitted she lied. The house of cards built on lies, donations-driven activism, and sensationalist reporting has crumbled. The failure of this campaign reaffirms that Dharma cannot be defeated by propaganda.
Will the Karnataka government take strict action as promised against the conspirators and the able assistants in the form of TNM, YouTubers, other media houses?
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