Dharmasthala burials case: Police flag issues in providing protection for complainant

In the absence of clear information about the complainant’s location in the Dharmasthala burial case, the Dakshina Kannada police have informed the competent authority that it will be difficult to provide him with protection.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police submitted a report in this regard to the Dakshina Kannada Principal District and Sessions Judge, who heads the three-member district committee on witness protection.

In a statement, Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police K. Arun said that, at the complainant’s request, the District and Sessions Judge-headed committee had recently granted him witness protection. Rule 7 of the Witness Protection Rules states that actions for protection will be taken with the consent and cooperation of the witness.

This was conveyed to the advocates representing the complainant by the DySP via email on July 10. All communication regarding the case was being made to the advocates through email. There was no information available about the complainant’s location. In such a scenario, DySP has expressed in his report about the difficulty in providing protection.

The report also mentioned that in the event of a complainant’s absence during the later stages of the investigation, the police lack information to physically locate the complainant, the SP stated.

Reacting to the statement, advocates S.J. Dheeraj and Ananya Gowda, who claim to represent the complainant, said the complainant has not sought anonymity to escape scrutiny. On the contrary, his decision to come forward and instruct his lawyers to release a redacted complaint and FIR was a conscious act, taken in the interest of his safety.

It was wrong for the police to now suggest that, merely because some information of the complainant was available through their (advocates) press releases and other media, they (police) were relieved of their duty to protect the complainant. The actions of the police go contrary to the letter and spirit of the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018, the two advocates stated.